Coca Cola Rhetorical Analysis

Delicious, sweet, refreshing: just some of the few words that are used to describe the taste of soft drinks. For over 125 years, one of the most iconic soft drink brands in the world has been the Coca-Cola Company. However, when an image as iconic as the Coca-Cola logo is reimagined and placed in a new situation, its entire meaning can change. In this case, by transforming the Coca-Cola logo, the message of the icon is shifted from the original intention to convey its relatively recent controversy with racial discrimination. In 1885, John S. Pemberton, an American pharmacist, created the formula for what is now known as Coca-Cola. Being a pharmacist, Pemberton’s original intention was for this concoction to be used as medicine in order

The company has accomplished this mainly through the development of new formulas of Coca-Cola in order to satisfy the diverse needs of consumers. For example, introducing products such as Coca-Cola Diet, Coca-Cola Zero, and Coca-Cola Cherry has allowed the brand to appeal to new audiences. Coca-Cola Diet has helped the Coca-Cola Company reach out to a middle-aged audience that enjoy the taste of the original beverage, but have specific health concerns. In addition, Coca-Cola Zero was formulated as an option for many young adults and teens that do not desire to consume the amount of calories normally associated with Coca-Cola. The brand has also developed the popular flavor of Coca-Cola Cherry, which is targeted for people seeking a bit of extra flavor added to Coca-Cola. Although this company has developed formulas for beverages that are completely different from the original taste of Coca-Cola, these are among the most

However, many consumers of Coca-Cola products are unaware of the number of problems that Coca-Cola has had with the subject of racial discrimination, the most significant of these issues being a class action lawsuit filed against the company in 1999. This lawsuit was filed by four current and former African-American employees, alleging to have “suffered discrimination in pay, promotions, and performance evaluations” (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre). These individuals, along with over 2,000 other African-Americans employed by the Coca-Cola Company, had “statistics showing that the median salary for African American employees was about one-third less than that of whites within the company” (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre). As a result, Coca-Cola eventually agreed to pay $192 million in settlement charges, which stands as the largest settlement met in any corporate racial discrimination case (Business & Human Rights Resource