Pepsi Advertisement, Case Study Example

Advertisements are very important in a world as profit-driven as modern society, and in order to sell a product, it must be appropriately marketed.  Commercials, such as those in newspapers and magazines, radio stations, or television segments are largely used to get word out of fantastic products, and Pepsi is one of the many companies that utilize television advertisements to sell their goods.  One commercial, which aims to sell more Pepsi soda, involves a young white boy traveling to the Shaolin Monastery with hopes of becoming a Kung Fu master and being welcomed as an official member into the monks’ community.  Following rigorous, decade-long training, the boy finally proves that he has mastered the craft of Kung Fu and, immediately after illustrating his physical strength, power, and skill, he and all of the other monks drink Pepsi and—as a final move in order to get the same type of mark on his forehead as the other monks have—the boy slams his forehead against a Pepsi can.  This move not only crushes the can, it gives the boy a mark on his forehead which is an outline of the tab and hole on the top of the Pepsi can; it is also the same mark that all of the other monks have, indicating that each of the monks surrounding the boy had done the same thing at some point.  This commercial uses excellent advertising strategies including racial diversity and personal appeal to sell the product; the target audience (Americans between the ages of twelve and mid-fifties) was the center of attention, the monks portrayed were very accurate to the Chinese culture, and the alleged reward for drinking Pepsi is incredibly desired. While advertising is important and selling products brings in profits (which is incredibly desired in Western culture), the advertisement in question is incredibly misleading; Pepsi and other carbonated beverages have been scientifically proven to increase ailments such as obesity rather than delivering strength, power, and perseverance that it promises.

Regardless of scientifically proven empty promises, the advertisement does well to reveal the target audience and any assumptions the brand makes regarding their consumers within the first few seconds.  The use of a young, white boy shows that the target audience is, generally speaking, white people from Western cultures; the protagonist of the commercial traveled from a presumably Western culture in order to earn Eastern training.  The Pepsi brand advertisers constructed this ad with an obvious awareness of the demographics of their target audience, which means that the target audience is shown in the commercial itself.  Because race is a large definer of demographics and because racial identification governs the manner in which advertisements are interpreted and assessed by audiences, stereotypes function in a variety of ways in the Pepsi ad.  The particular stereotype in question—that Chinese monks are hard workers, which provides sharp contrast to the stereotypical American—impacts the message being sent to the target audience and makes the hard work and perseverance generally associated with the Chinese monks far more desired; the young boy earns for a social position similar to that of the monks.  Because these monks, which typical Westerners only know about because of stereotypes, are known to be strong and fierce warriors, the fact that they drink Pepsi makes the product all the more desirable to Western viewers.

The decision to set the commercial in an Eastern society rather than a Western one not only makes the target audience easier to isolate (the only white boy in a sea of Chinese monks is easy to spot, making the target audience just as easy to see), it helps bridge the gap between Western and Eastern cultures by taking the opportunity to use historically correct information.  The goal of stimulating a broader audience by framing the product as beneficial (via the monks) rather than detrimental to human health through setting is evident in the Eastern imagery and the oriental-type instrumental music in the background; this music enhances the serenity of the scene in addition to adding stereotype-driven believability to the setting.  Pepsi seems to have done research beyond stereotyping, however, because the accuracy within the commercial is worth applauding.  Further research into the monks portrayed proves that they are Chinese monks living in Shaolin, who have been practicing Kung Fu on a daily basis for over fifteen thousand years (Canzonieri).  The Shaolin Temple is very familiar to the Chinese people because of the mysteries and legends surrounding it, which were subjects of various movies as well as literature pieces.  Canzonieri goes on to discuss the fact that Kung Fu, which is the original form of martial arts, is shrouded in the mysteries connected with the Shaolin Temple; what happens within the temple is little known to those who have not trained there, but what is known of the monks’ discipline and zeal is astonishing.

In fact, the usage of the Shaolin monks served as more than a bridge to connect Western and Eastern cultures; it provided Pepsi with a contrasting ideal for which Western viewers yearn, due to the massive differences.  The monks in question are infamous for discipline, strength, perseverance, and holding a general fear-factor that is not often seen in Western cultures.  This cultural clash is especially evident in the fact that the young American boy must work hard for a long period of time in order to become equal to his Eastern counterparts.  From a racial perspective, the commercial insinuates that white America is lagging behind the Chinese (as a general stereotype) in terms of strength and fortitude; this lag on America’s part has historical roots, which are linked to the constant tension between the two cultures, Western and Eastern, that seems to have increased over time.  Geert Hofstede discusses potential causes for the clash in cultural views between Western and Eastern nations, and proposes the idea of cultural relativity being the culprit of such negative relations (1).  In fact, the distance and uneducated nature of Westerners in relation to Eastern cultures is one of the tools Pepsi uses in the advertisement; because the Shaolin monks are only known as being very hardcore and strong to Westerners, that makes their abilities more amazing and their skills more desirable to Western viewers.

Ironically enough, the fact that Pepsi is using such disciplined and apparently “healthy” cultures as the spokespeople is the exact opposite of what consumers can achieve by drinking massive amounts of Pepsi products.  While the underlying promise of the commercial seems to be strength, willpower, and determination held by the Shaolin monks, the reality of overconsumption of Pepsi products includes high obesity rates and health issues.  The United States, an infamously heavy country, is constantly battling the obesity problem that Pepsi products help create.  The current obesity epidemic has destroyed the lives of millions of Americans, and has contributed “$190 billion to the annual national healthcare price tag” (Ungar). Childhood obesity is on the rise, and because these children generally do not change lifestyle behaviors as they grow older, that obesity follows them into adulthood and old age; the health issues associated with obesity follow children throughout their obese lifespans, further burdening the healthcare system.  This obesity problem has prompted schools around the country to increase the health in foods served at lunch, enforcing nutrition education, and—unfortunately for Pepsi—has banned sodas from middle and high schools.  Pepsi’s decision to use such healthy examples in their commercial as the Shaolin monks is equally as misleading as it is dangerous, and it is evident that Pepsi is attempting to revive a soiled image due to the obesity epidemic.

The Pepsi commercial described may be dangerously misleading (which is Pepsi’s attempt to help fix a tarnished reputation), but the strong and strategic advertisement techniques used are effective and comical.  By making the target audience (Americans between the ages of twelve and mid-fifties) apparent by isolating the protagonist in a sea of a different race, Pepsi sets Americans aside.  The Chinese culture represented was accurate and very desirable to Western countries, as Westerners’ knowledge is generally stereotype-based; because the monks are known to be very disciplined and strong, their status is more desirable to Western viewers.  Pepsi’s commercial is an excellent example of using cultural differences in order to increase sales.

Works Cited

Cameron, Deborah. “Language, Gender, and Sexuality: Current Issues and New Directions.” Applied Linguistics 26.4 (2005): 482-502. Print.

Canzonieri, Salvator. “Legacy of Shaolin Fighting Monks.” Chinwoomen. Salvator Canzonieri, 1996. Web. 10 November 2015.

Hofstede, Geert. Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations. 2nd ed. London: Sage Publications, 2001. Print.

Rhodes, Jane. “The Visibility of Race and Media History.” Critical Studies in Mass Communication 20.2 (1993): 184-190. Print.

Ungar, Rick. “Obesity Now Costs Americans More In Health Care Spending Than Smoking.” Forbes Magazine. Forbes, 30 April 2012. Web. 10 November 2015.