Module Code & Module Title

MC6052NI Creative Advertisement and Copywriting

Assessment Weightage & Type

50% Individual Coursework

Year and Semester

2020-2021 Autumn

Student Name: Amrit Prasad Chaudhary

London Met ID: 18029519
College ID: NP01BA4A180018
Assignment Due Date: 9th May, 2021
Assignment Submission Date: 9th May, 2021
Word Count (Where Required): 2983

I confirm that I understand my coursework needs to be submitted online via Google Classroom under the
relevant module page before the deadline in order for my assignment to be accepted and marked. I am fully
aware that late submissions will be treated as non-submission and a mark of zero will be awarded.
Acknowledgement
I would like to express my deep appreciation and gratitude to my subject teacher and lecturer
Mr. Bigendra Shrestha for his constant help, advice, information, and encouragement while
doing this assignment. I feel immense pleasure to present my coursework after a long work.
Besides my effort, the help and guideline given by the others haven’t been unnoticed. I express
my gratitude to all those countless people for the support for me doing this coursework. I
express thanks to Islington College. It has been a source of the creation of this coursework and
the support, valuable information, resources, guidance given to me throughout the completion
of this task encouraged me to this project.
Table of Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................................... 4
Ad campaign of PepsiCo. .................................................................................................................. 4
Company profile ................................................................................................................................ 4
Product detail..................................................................................................................................... 5
Why PepsiCo. Ad?............................................................................................................................. 5
Campaign Details ...................................................................................................................... 6
Past Campaign of PepsiCo. .............................................................................................................. 6
Competitor Ad Analysis.................................................................................................................... 6
Visual of the Ad ................................................................................................................................. 7
Analysis of the campaign using Asa Arthur Berger Model. ................................................... 8
Brief overview of the framework. .................................................................................................... 8
Asa Arthur Berger Model................................................................................................................. 8
General Ambience and mood of the Advertisement ................................................................................. 8
Design and Axial balance of Advertisements ............................................................................................. 8
Pictorial Element and Written Elements ................................................................................................... 9
Blank Space ................................................................................................................................................... 9
Sings and Symbols ........................................................................................................................................ 9
Action and Figures ....................................................................................................................................... 9
Color, Theme and Background ................................................................................................................. 10
Shot and Language ..................................................................................................................................... 10
Faces and Impressions ............................................................................................................................... 11
Product and Role in Culture and Society of America ............................................................................. 11
Cultural Attitudes of Advertisement ........................................................................................................ 11

Effectiveness of the advertising campaign ............................................................................. 12

What worked? ................................................................................................................................. 12
What didn't work? .......................................................................................................................... 12
What can be further improved? .................................................................................................... 12
Self-reflection .......................................................................................................................... 13
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 14
Appendix .................................................................................................................................. 15
14 Questions of Asa Arthur Berger ............................................................................................... 15
 Analytical Critiques of Pepsi “The
New Skinny Can” Ad Campaign
Introduction

Ad campaign of PepsiCo.
Pepsi Co. is one of the Coca-Cola Company's main rivals, and it has always tried to create
exciting and appealing ads that grab the audience's attention. In this case, the Diet Pepsi
commercial (poster) is chosen, which depicts a stunning woman sipping Pepsi through a straw
from a slim can (“The New Skinny Can”). At the same time, it uses the brand's iconic colors,
which help to establish a connection with it. It also uses the slogan "The New Skinny Can" to
draw the target audience's interest ("The New Skinny Can"). As a result, its key point may be
summarized as follows: ‘Women should start buying a new diet Pepsi because it will keep them
slim and trendy, and the drink tastes fine.' According to the above explanation, Pepsi is
attempting to raise brand awareness while also attempting to encourage more women to
consume the product by focusing on social ideals such as being slender and attractive and
reflecting them in their posters. (Abraham, 2011)

Company profile
In 1965, Pepsi-Cola CEO Donald Kendall and Frito-Lay CEO Herman Lay saw what they
called "a match made in heaven," a single business delivering perfectly salty snacks alongside
the finest cola on the planet. PepsiCo, one of the world's largest food and beverage firms, was
born from their vision. In more than 200 countries and territories across the world, PepsiCo
products are consumed more than one billion times a day. PepsiCo's complementary food and
beverage portfolio, which includes Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Quaker, Tropicana, and
SodaStream, created more than $70 billion in net sales in 2020. PepsiCo's product line features
a wide variety of tasty foods and drinks, including 23 brands with total annual retail sales of
more than $1 billion each. PepsiCo's goal is to Winning with Intent to Be the Global Leader in
Convenient Foods and Beverages. "Winning with Intent" represents our desire to win in the
marketplace in a long-term manner while also incorporating purpose into all facets of our
corporate strategy and brands. PepsiCo has seven divisions: PepsiCo Beverages North
America, Frito-Lay North America, Quaker Foods North America, Latin America, Europe,
Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, and Asia Pacific, Australia/New Zealand, and China.
Each of these divisions has its own unique history and way of doing business. (PepsiCo, 2020)
Product detail
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in
1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898,
and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. (PepsiCo, 2020)

Why PepsiCo. Ad?

Advertisers have developed an effective marketing strategy, where being slim is the new
fashion statement: skinny sells. Many people, especially women, are influenced by the media
on a daily basis, which is where most societal standards of beauty originate. Every day, people
are bombarded with photographs of stick thin actors, singers, and models who have come to
represent the perfect beauty for American women. This poster ad was one of the most popular
advertisement which help them promote their new product “The New Skinny Can” (PepsiCo,
2020). There also many critics and it was backfired by many reputed newspaper and magazines
as those standards are unrealistic. So, these strategies and faults of this ad can help in future to
use those marketing strategies without repeating those mistakes.
Campaign Details
The advertisement was published in women's magazines of New York Fashion Week, 2011
and on the company's website in order to raise brand awareness among women (Riley, 2011).
According to the poster, the main target audience in this advertisement is a group of young
women who are interested in new fashion trends. An image of a young woman wearing a
fashionable hat and swimsuit (“The New Skinny Can”) reflects this feature on the
advertisement. Simultaneously, her make-up and chic clothing mean that she has the necessary
financial capital and can afford to vacation in popular seaside resorts, despite the fact that the
target audience may be middle- or upper-class. Alternatively, the proposition of this poster is
that this product is suitable for the women, who are interested in being in shape by using a slim
can and catchy slogan (“The New Skinny Can”). Nonetheless, apart from targeting the women
with a medium to high level of income and interested in fashion, this poster can presumably be
attractive to the women, who want to take an example from the model. From this poster it can
said that advertisers are trying to make sexual appeal (Part of an Emotional Advertising Appeal)
as they are trying to show skinny are beautiful and skinny attracts the male (Middleton, 2019).

Past Campaign of PepsiCo.

PepsiCo launched the Pepsi Refresh Project (PRP) in 2010, with the goal of awarding $20
million in grants to individuals, companies, and non-profits that promote a new concept that
benefits their city, state, or country. The initiative is unrelated to the Pepsi Corporate
Foundation and is funded by marketing funds. More than 80 million votes were cast, and 37%
of Americans were aware of the Refresh Project at its height. (Campaign, 2017)

Competitor Ad Analysis
Talking about the ad campaign of PepsiCo competitor, Coca-Cola, it launched a “Share a Coke”
Campaign which quickly became one of the brand’s most recognizable international drives.
This campaign was first started with Australia. The campaign slogan was based on Coca-Cola
long-standing reputation as a brand that fosters friendship and brings people together. The
simple activation of putting the most famous Australian names on Coke bottles to boost sales
and contribute to social talk around the soft drink was the start of the campaign. And it was
proved to be successful ad campaign of Coca-Cola. (CocaCola Australia, 2020)
Visual of the Ad
Analysis of the campaign using Asa Arthur Berger
Model.

Brief overview of the framework.

Arthur Asa Berger is Professor Emeritus of Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts at
San Francisco State University, where he taught between 1965 and 2003. He has published
more than 100 articles and more than 60 books. Among this he has talked about the effect of
marketing and gave the model to analyze the advertisements in Ads, Fads, and Consumer
Culture: Advertising’s Impact on American Character and Society (Ignia, 2011). According
to Asa Arthur Berger model to understand the effect of advertising, one has to look at each
component, which is why Arthur Asa Berger calls into question the work of advertising
agencies, functions and salaries of agents, marketing strategies used use of sex in advertising,
neuromarketing or political advertising. Chapters are structured in a pyramidal fashion and
provide sufficient information to reader (Berger, 2011). The fourteen questions of Asa Arthur
Berger model for analyzing the advertisement are in Appendix.

Asa Arthur Berger Model

General Ambience and Mood

The advertisement seems to be a very simple and clear one. From the advertisement, it can be
said that, its main claim is to make women buy new diet Pepsi, as it will keep them slim and
fashionable, and the drink tastes good. This ad is creating a kind of ambitious and passion
mood.

Design and Axial balance

In this ad, the advertisers have used 16:9 aspect ratio for the advertisement and an axial balance
between the various elements depicted in this ad. Three major components of the ad are located
along the direction of a vertical axis that can be imagine in the middle of the picture: the woman,
the can, and the sentence, which is also written in vertical. The axial balance, that is used in
this ad is to reflect the concept of being "well-organized." This commercial is for Diet Pepsi,
and when we talk about "diet" and "going on a diet," we're mostly referring to planning our
eating habits and not eating whatever we want, whenever we want. As a result, an axial balance
is used to convey the notion of being well-organized rather than disorganized. Following this
axe is primarily linked to the shape of the new “Skinny” Pepsi can, which resembles the bodies
of tall and skinny models.
Pictorial Element and Written Elements
It is seen that the main focus of this ad is on the image rather than the text. The text takes up a
smaller portion of the screen than the picture. A substantial relationship between the text and
the picture can also be discerned. The text was positioned in the same vertical direction as the
photographs of the women and the product. So, while it is normal to see text written in a
horizontal direction, it is seen text written in a vertical direction in this ad in order to create a
sense of unity with the images displayed by the ad and with the ad's message that it is a part of
healthy diet, can help to make skinny and curves. From the ad we can also see that how the can
is placed in the middle of the poster, emphasizing the importance of promoting the product that
this ad presents.

Blank Space
It is clearly seen that this ad is not full of graphics and texts and it has blank spaces in the
background and in the bottom that are colored in blue.

Sings and Symbols

The body, the face, and the can are the most prominent elements in this ad. The can is
highlighted to draw attention to the new product that the ad is advertising. Also, there is a lot
of light on the woman's shoulder and cheek, which is primarily for the benefit of the diet Pepsi
commercial, which is primarily to prove that her cheek and shoulder are skinny. We can also
see that the interior of the hat is darker than the outside, which is done to illustrate the intent of
wearing the hat, which is to shield the head and face from the dangers of sun exposure.

Action and Figures

The key scene in the ad is the female character drinking Pepsi-Cola through a straw. This
behaviour is highly sexualized since the straw can be considered a phallic symbol, in addition
to the long new "Skinny" cane, which is also a phallic symbol. Because of the red lipstick on a
model's lips, which are usually associated with kissing and other sexual acts, this gesture
becomes even more sexual because as symbolic meaning of red color is seduction, passion and
love. Sipping from the straw is a sexualized action used in media in order to show mainly to
attract the opposite gender attention. Therefore, it can be acknowledged that how the female as
portrayed in this advertisement is passive and it is mainly an object to look at while all her
actions are related in one way or another to males.
Color, Theme and Background
Colors in this ad are very significant. First, we can see the dominance of blue. Everything is
mainly in blue the background, the hat, the clothes of the women (which seems to be swimming
suit), even the straw has blue color. Blue in this ad represents freshness. Also, while looking at
different ad of Pepsi, we can find the use of words like fresh and refreshing. Therefore, the
color blue in the context of a Pepsi ad mainly signifies freshness. (Ferreira, 2019)

It also signifies by relating to the theme of ad, the ad is based on the themes of the summer,
beach and the sea and this is also related to the message of the ad. Before summer starts, every
woman becomes preoccupied with the shape of her body and starts going diet in order to be in
a better shape for summer. Therefore, Pepsi is associating the product Diet Pepsi with a healthy
drink which will help them to make them in better shape. Therefore, the color blue here is also
a representation of the colors that are dominant on the beach, the blue sky and the blue sea.
Also, because the product promoted by this ad is Pepsi, we can associate the dominance of blue
and use of red and white colors that have been associated with Pepsi for years. We can
recognize the presence of red by looking at the lips of the women and in the straw. Red is used
in ad mainly because it can attract to a great extent the attention of the people. As red also
represents that, the woman is passionate about drinking Pepsi.

Shot and Language

In this ad, close eye shot is used as we can only see the upper part of Woman body mainly from
the upper part of her arms to her head. Also, we are seeing her from a profile submission. This
has two significances. First, we can see clearly how her image was deconstructed so rather than
looking at her as a whole who are only looking at a certain part of her body and this mainly
makes her an object as per Male Gaze theory (Film Theory, 2017). Therefore, we can see how
this woman was represented in this ad as an object and more importantly as sexual object. Since
she is not in direct eye contact with the camera, the profile shot coupled with the big hat that
covers her eyes makes her seem passive. Also noteworthy about the profile shot is that it was
primarily used to portray model as a very skinny woman. Woman has a stunning body that is
described by the curves in the upper part of her body.

As a result, Model is seen in this ad from a profile shot (Extreme Close Up Shot) in order to
hide her curves, which is not in the best interests of the brand, which is promoting the following
concept through the new diet: Slim is the most attractive form, and every woman should be
skinny.

The message conveyed by this ad is also emphasized by the textual content, which is written
vertically to highlight the best shape a woman can have, which is tall and slim (Design Mantic,
2016). Furthermore, the word Skinny appears in the sentence, which is essentially the main
word in this entire advertisement (Design Mantic, 2016).
Faces and Impressions
Although Pepsi is considered mainly as an international product which is not specifically
provided to a specific consumer, however this ad is mainly addressing women. The face of
woman shows that, she has skinny face and women are supposed to be skinny and not men.
Normally women struggle to get men’s attention and the best way of doing so is by taking care
of their physical appearance and becoming skinny because skinny equals beautiful.

Product and Role in Culture and Society of America

The product that is being advertised in the ad is “The New Skinny Can Pepsi-Cola” that was
launched by the PepsiCo. According to the company and ad, the advertised Pepsi-Cola as a
Diet Pepsi. Pepsi-Cola and other carbonated drinks have influence in the culture and society of
the America. As they drink Pepsi-Cola and other carbonated drinks in every occasion. Also,
they like to drink those drinks while having pizza, burgers and other fast-food items and as we
all know, fast food items are the most consumed food item in America (Reed, 2018).

Cultural Attitudes of Ad
In America, a big number of girls are taking models, actresses and singers as they role models
because they are fascinated by the way in which media represent these women as fabulous,
skinny and sexy without knowing to what extent these models and actresses are depressed and
are suffering from the life that is imposed on them by the media. So, we can understand from
ad that, they are showing that skinny are beautiful and tries to make impact to the young women
to be skinny which is equal to beautiful according to this ad.
Effectiveness of the advertising campaign

What worked?
Overall, this study found that Pepsi-Co heavily relies on societal norms and traditional
perceptions of women's appearance. It is used as a visual representation of the model, who is
drinking diet Pepsi in this case. It also represents the importance of dieting, beauty, fashion,
and women's appearance through its slogan. These ideas help to create a good impression of
the brand. As a result, they justify Pepsi's intention to increase spending on diet food
development and advertising. Finally, following this approach allows Pepsi to stay competitive
in the market while still increasing its global reputation.

What didn't work?

As per the brand experts, they praised the new design of the new skinny can PepsiCo but said
that the company was a bit off on sales pitch that skinny is better (Skidmore, 2011). According
to National Eating Disorders Association, it takes offense to the can and said the company’s
comments are both “thoughtless and irresponsible (Skidmore, 2011).” From this ad they
appealed people to drink the diet PepsiCo to decrease the weight but as per research, it contains
artificial sweeteners that, in many cases, will actually cause you to crave more soda and if this
happens, consumers are more likely to drink more soda and consume more calories than you
should. So, we can say that, the company which wants to emphasize the skinny didn’t work in
this ad as it was baseless and scientific fact didn’t support the appeal that company want to give
to the consumers from the ad.

What can be further improved?

As the company is one of the top brands in context of beverages and other soft drinks. So, while
making an ad concept to promote and give the message regarding the products of the company.
They need to consider the cultural affect in the society and scientifical facts which supports
them. In future they need to research more on the product and its effect in the body while
promoting their products. So, there will be no flow of wrong message and no controversies
regarding the ad.
Self-reflection
This module taught me that advertising is a critical component of an organization's marketing
strategy for establishing brand recognition and reaching a broad consumer base. An
advertisement should be unforgettable, capturing the attention of the viewer in less than five
seconds. Similarly, the advertisement must be imaginative and straightforward in order to be
remembered. Creative campaigns have proven to be more effective in delivering results,
allowing the organization to send a direct message to customers about what they want. Since,
in the end, the company's success is determined by its performance.

There are several elements that contribute to a memorable and understandable advertisement.
Color psychology, typography, and the kinds of appeals they want to make are the most critical
components that make the ad simple and memorable. Since color plays such an important role
in how a brand is viewed, proper use of color psychology can have an impact on the brain.
Typography aids in determining and improving the visual aesthetics of an advertising
campaign, as well as expressing the overall message of the campaign, which contributes to
stakeholder engagement. This module also assisted in understanding the impact of appeal in
advertising. Individuals are persuaded to want or alter their views and opinions about the
company by appeals. These are the key elements that assisted me in comprehending various
aspects of advertising and its campaign.
Bibliography
Riley, C., 2011. CNN Money. Pepsi to release new 'skinny can' , 8 February.
Ignia, A.-A., 2011. Advertising and consumer culture. Symbolic interpretation and cultural
trends, s.l.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Maryland.
Berger, A. A., 2011. Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture: Advertising's Impact on American
Character and Society. 4 ed. s.l.:Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Skidmore, S., 2011. Diet Pepsi 'skinny' can stirs up big controversy. NBC News, 12 Feb.
Campaign, 2017. History of advertising: No 185: The Pepsi Refresh Project. [Online]
Available at: https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/history-advertising-no-185-pepsi-refresh-
project/1424314
[Accessed 7 May 2021].
CocaCola Australia, 2020. What was the 'Share a Coke' campaign?. [Online]
Available at: https://www.coca-colacompany.com/au/faqs/what-was-the-share-a-coke-
campaign.
[Accessed 7 May 2021].
Film Theory, 2017. Film Theory 101 – Laura Mulvey: The Male Gaze Theory. [Online]
Available at: https://www.filminquiry.com/film-theory-basics-laura-mulvey-male-gaze-theory/
[Accessed 7 May 2021].
Reed, E., 2018. Pepsi vs. Coke: What's Really the Difference?. The Street, 14 Nov.
PepsiCo, 2020. ABOUT THE COMPANY. [Online]
Available at: https://www.pepsico.com/about/about-the-company
[Accessed 7 May 2021].
Abraham, T., 2011. Pepsi did NOT slim me down': Curvy Sofia Vergara defends
controversial ad for 'skinny' new diet soda can. Mail Online, 11 March.
Appendix

14 Questions of Asa Arthur Berger

1. What is the general ambience of the advertisement? What mood does it create? How does
it do this?

2. What is the design of the advertisement? Does it use axial balance or some other form?
How are the basic components or elements arranged? 3. What is the relationship between
pictorial elements and written material and what does this tell us?

4. What is the use of space in the advertisement? Is there a lot of 'white space" or is it full of
graphic and written elements?

5. What signs and symbols do we find? What role do they play in the ad's impact?

6. If there are figures (men, women, children, animals) what are they like? What can be said
about their facial expressions, poses, hairstyle, age, sex, hair color, ethnicity, education,
occupation, relationships (of one to the other)?

7. What does the background tell us? Where is the advertisement taking place and what
significance does this background have?

8. What action is taking place in the advertisement and what significance does it have? (This
might be described as the ad's "plot.")

9. What theme or themes do we find in the advertisement? What is it about? (The plot of an
advertisement may involve a man and a woman drinking but the theme might be jealousy,
faithlessness, ambition, passion, etc.)

10. What about the language used? Does it essentially provide information or does it try to
generate some kind of emotional response? Or both? What techniques are used by the
copywriter: humor, alliteration, definitions" of life, comparisons, sexual innuendo, and so on?

11. What typefaces are used and what impressions do they convey?

12. What is the item being advertised and what role does it play in American culture and
society?

13. What about aesthetic decisions? If the advertisement is a photograph, what kind of a shot
is it? What significance do long shots, medium shots, close-up shots have? What about the
lighting, use of color, angle of the shot?
14. What sociological, political, economic or cultural attitudes are indirectly reflected in the
advertisement? An advertisement may be about a pair of blue jeans but it might, indirectly,
reflect such matters as sexism, alienation, stereotyped thinking, conformism, generational
conflict, loneliness, elitism, and so on.