Advertisers were faced with a paradigm shift at the end of World War II. During the war, most ads featured patriotic statements about how using each particular product helped the war effort or gave troops something to look forward too. As the war ended, these images and themes were no longer necessary or appropriate in the advertising world. Agencies changed their campaigns to show the positive uses of the product in domestic and suburban life; now focused more on leisure than utility.
As these two ads for Coca-Cola show (one from 1944 and one from 1954), Coke wanted to shift its image from a nostalgic image of American life to one more focused on the new priorities of the consumerist nation. The 1944 ad, entitled “Have a Coca-Cola = Howdy, Neighbor,” depicts a soldier returning home from battle and visiting his local soda fountain. While there, he seems to be recounting stories of combat to a young boy, girl, and woman. The caption for the image says, “Many places overseas, too, your American fighting man meets up with that old friend…ice cold Coca-Cola.” This ad brands Coke as a beverage of nostalgia, and a break from the stresses of war. This concept builds on the ideas of patriotism and nostalgia that exist in many World War II era advertisements.
In the 1954 ad, called “After the prom…it’s Coke Time,” the themes present exhibit different priorities than the World War II era ad. The advertisement shows a table of teenagers being served Coke after their prom, a hamburger, a corsage, and a glass of Coke. The caption for this ad reads, “The party’s over, but not the fun. Now it’s Coke Time.” Now targeting a younger audience, the themes of patriotism and nostalgia have given way to new ideas of leisure and modernity.
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