No one avoids Trump
真人线上娱乐 see a white cowboy riding his horse into the sunset, young African-Americans dancing to hip hop music and a group of Latinos relaxing at a sidewalk café. At the same time, we hear the 125-year-old patriotic hymn, ‘America the Beautiful’ in English, Spanish, Hindi and Mandarin. This is a primetime TV commercial for Coca-Cola aired during the half time of the 2017 Super Bowl, the American football league’s season finale which is steeped in tradition and reaches over 100 million viewers in the United States.
The soft drink giant’s message is inclusive, has a universal appeal and is thus perfect for the occasion. Or so one would think. Since Donald Trump won the election in 2016, that kind of communication is increasingly being turned, twisted, perceived and used politically, no matter whether that was the intention or not.
?Coca-Cola doesn’t want to comment on the commercial, so we don’t know the motives behind it for certain. Most likely it is an apolitical branding exercise, because the video had already been aired before Trump became President. Back then there was no outcry, but when the commercial was aired right after Trump’s inauguration, it was perceived as an attack on the President’s stance on immigrants,? explains Ib T. Gulbrandsen, Associate Professor in Communication at 真人线上娱乐 University.
Easier to make enemies
Together with his colleagues, Julie Uldam and Sine N?rholm Just, he has analysed a number of ads, TV commercials, social media posts and other PR initiatives from American and international organisations and companies who share one thing in common: they have been interpreted as anti-Trump protests. By media outlets, interest organisations or influential opinion makers who have a political interest in promoting or disparaging the President. This is either because the communication has been expressly anti-Trump, could be perceived as anti-Trump due to socially relevant content or even because it is made out to be anti-Trump without the sender intending it as such.
?The political situation in the US is extremely divided, and this has a knock-on effect on everything the Americans talk about. The opposing groups are further apart than ever, and there is no middle ground. If you make a public statement, your message will most likely be branded as either anti-Trump or pro-Trump, even if you don’t want to pick a side. Both the supporters and opponents of the President can use you and your message to promote their own viewpoints. This makes it near impossible to find a neutral zone in which to communicate,? says Ib T. Gulbrandsen.
The discussions become more black and white in a system like the American one
Marketing and communications specialists have always looked for current topics of conversation with a wide appeal to get the attention of the public. Right now, Americans are talking a lot about politics, and that makes it difficult to be relevant and remain on friendly terms with all sides. The car manufacturer Cadillac came to realise this the hard way following the release of a commercial based on how immigrants have impacted the history of the company. The rival of Coca-Cola, Pepsi, has also been attacked by both supporters and opponents of Donald Trump after a commercial showed demonstrators and those in power suddenly bonding over a soda.
?Companies such as Pepsi and Cadillac are in an incredibly difficult position. How do you tell your story in a way that doesn’t offend anyone? The large companies can’t afford to lose 40-50 percent of their market share. Before