Cultural Imperialism

This Coke commercial speaks words far greater than those spoken in the commercial itself. In this older dated commercial that appears to be from the 1970's, we observe people of many different races and countries singing together with the camera panning through the crowd and stopping to focus on the faces, the races, and the Coke. It would appear that the commercial is attempting to instill a feeling of happiness, peacefulness, and togetherness with the lyrics, "I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony, I'd like to buy the world a Coke, and keep it company," (YouTube.com). It's saying that this small, commercialized product can bring the world together in "perfect harmony," which they further attempt to convince the audience of being capable with the text seen at the end of the commercial. It states, "On a hilltop in Italy, we assembled people from all over the world to bring you this message from coca-cola bottlers all over the world, it's the real thing. Coke," (YouTube.com). Alright, so you paid a bunch of young kids to stand on a hill that could or could not be in Italy and lip sync along with what sounds like a pre-recorded track of professional singers. A little on the cynical side, but it's truly a hard idea to grasp that Coke will bring the world together, as this commercial describes. It's a nice idea, but it's just an idea. It's ideal. This is portrayed as a global village, but I do not believe it is. I believe it is "the mere collection of men," that Barnlund discusses in his article, "Communication in a Global Village," (Barnlund 48). A global village would insinuate that these people, with Coke in hand, get along and understand eachother, live alongside eachother and do not discriminate between one another, do not have culture clashes nor feel uncomfortable living near the others in any way. These people, atop this hill, are people who have been brought together to advertise a product that signifies capitalism and imperialism. Not that the world does not want this change; it would seem that people are indeed interested in learning about other cultures, experiencing new things, and seeing what life may be like in another person's global shoes. From "The World of Coca-Cola," by Ted Friedman, Friedman discusses an exhibit in the Coke building of drinks from around the world. "Here, visitors are given the opportunity to sample 18 soft drink flavors which Coca-Cola sells in other countries, but not in the U.S." (Friedman) He goes on to explain that it's a very popular and crowded attraction, and that many people want to try all 18 flavors and often go back for more. Is this human curiosity to merely try weird flavor creations, or a desire to see what others experience outside the world of their own? Barnlund is correct when he states that the idea of a global village is inevitable, but the date uncertain. (Barnlund 48) We, as a people, are naturally curious to see what somebody else is experiencing, and in time we may be able to get past racial and ethnic hurdles that prevent some kind of global assimilation. However, the Coke product alone will not single-handedly become a catalyst for this necessary change, as this commercial would indicate.

Worked Cited;

Barnlund, Dean. "Communication in a Global Village." Literacies. 2^nd
ed. Ed. Terence Brunk et al. New York: Norton, 2000. 47-61.

"Coke" Commercial. You Tube. 22 October 2007 .

Friedman, Ted. EServer.org. October 1992. 22 October 2007 .