Document Analysis…

In last week’s class, we discussed how a particular object can speak to a research subject, and how commentary can be made about the larger society using that object as a lens.  I’d like to explore the Coca-Cola Can for my document analysis.   In our consumer-driven society, marketing is a part of every day life, which begs the question:  is it fair for big brand companies promoting less than healthy snacks to market to impressionable youth in schools?

The Coke company has been extremely successful in its own marketing endeavors – so successful, in fact, product enthusiasts have begun doing the marketing for Coke.  Last year, a couple of twenty-something men not affiliated with Coke, set up a Facebook page all about the soda.  Within just a few weeks, the page hit 75,000 fans, prompting Facebook administrators to approach Coke executives about managing the page.  Coke declined to take it over, however.  The company agreed only to co-manage, speaking to a trend amongst big name brands toward relinquishing some control in order to promote a desired “for the people, of the people” image.  Today, with 3,365,220 fans, the page is second in popularity only to Barack Obama’s.  It’s intriguing to think about what decisions such companies are making that effect our thinking…and the thinking of our children…not just about whether or not a product tastes good or bad, but about how the company itself makes us feel.