Rubin's Essay Summary

In Advertisement R Us, Melissa Rubin goes into depth about advertisements and the meanings behind them. Advertisements are a way of companies to sell a product, and their purpose is to appear to their audience in a positive and riveting way, so they can make money off of it. Advertisements, like everything, change over time. Rubin explains that this specific Coca-Cola ad was shaped into directing to a consumer-based, post war era. Americans at the time were relieved to be done with war, they celebrated with their "community" with a nice refreshing glass of Coke- or at least that is what this ad is getting at. Rubin goes into detail that this specific advertisement shows the racist and sexist aspects apparent, but it wasn't clear to people at this time, because it is what people were used to. Melissa explains that American society at this time doesn't focus on the non- diversity, but rather the floating coke machine along with the Coca-Cola Sprite boy, appearing angelic-like, appealing to audiences of this mid-twentieth century. With these simple parts added in, it adds even more dimension to just how cheesy and gullible some people were in this time. But, obviously, this advertisement, along with many since, have worked in getting people to purchase Coca-Cola.