Coca-Cola Making the World a Better Place

Gina Langlinais

English Comp1

8.30.18

Coca-Cola Making the World A Better Place

       Perfect harmony, we all want that. The 1970’s when Billy Davis produced this commercial, costing more than $250,000, nothing like it had been done in advertising before. The writer, Becker wanted to make something different. He not only wanted to sell a product but an idea.

He realized that he was not only writing a jingle for a company but that he could convey a bigger message. This is evident in the words of the song and the visual aids.

He saw more than a coke in his ideas. In those ideas were; Coke is refreshing, let’s have a coke. This meant a gathering. Where there would be two and maybe more, joining together to enjoy not only the company, but also a crisp refreshing bubbly cold Coca-Cola. How could this not be exactly what the world wants?

40 years ago, heavy fog along with a redirected plane that was supposed to land in London,

became an unlikely inspiration. He wrote the song while sitting in an Airport in Shannon Ireland,

on a long layover. Grounded due to heavy fog, he noted that people are around him were

 distressed and outraged. The passengers had to stay in or near the airport with very

uncomfortable accommodations.

Next J. Becker, who wrote the jingle, noted some of the same frustrated passengers we're

seemingly in a better mood sitting in the cafes coming together over snacks and bottles of Coca-

Cola sharing their stories.  Becker later wrote about the scene before him, “at that moment I saw

a bottle of Coke in a whole new light… I began to see a bottle of Coca-Cola as more than a drink that refreshed a hundred million people a day in almost every corner of the globe. So, I began to

see the familiar words ‘Let’s have a Coke,’ as more than an invitation to pause for refreshment. They were actually a subtle way of saying ‘Let’s keep each other company for a little while. ’And I knew they were being said all over the world as I sat there in Ireland. So that was the basic idea: to see a Coke not as it was originally designed to be—a liquid refresher—but as a tiny bit of commonality between all peoples, a universally liked formula that would help to keep them company for a few minutes.”

After this realization came to him he knew he wanted to not just sell products, but to sell one that is instilling hope, he wanted to bring together the people of the world.  

 When 500 people stood on a hillside in Manziana, outside of Rome, Italy to make the commercial this concept had never been done. They gathered people from all over the country to display the diversity of the nations. Prior to this idea, the Coca-Cola slogan had been “The real thing” just one of Coca - Cola’s many slogans. But they never knew the impact this slogan would have on so many different ethnicities and generations. This popular jingle has been recorded in a wide range of languages, to me that helps to show diversity in the world, allowing people to be who they are or choose to be, with no faults nor discrimination. Some other great slogans over the years include;1924- “Refresh Yourself”, 1929 –“The Pause that Refreshes”, 1938-“The Best Friend Thirst Ever Had”, 1957- “Sign of Good Taste”, 1975-“Look Up America”, 1979-“Have a Coke and a Smile”, 1985-“America’s Real Choice”, 1990- “You Can’t Beat the Real Thing”, 2001-“Life Taste Good”, “Open Happiness” was released in 2009. The slogan “Have a Coke and a Smile” is the most current slogan, which was released in 2016.