Event Title
Coca-Cola in Art History: Advertising and Appropriation
Location
Diamond 146
Start Date
30-4-2015 2:40 PM
End Date
30-4-2015 3:25 PM
Project Type
Presentation
Description
Since its invention in the late 19th century, Coca-Cola has become the most recognizable brand in the world. Its status as an international phenomenon is echoed in its mission statement: the Coca-Cola Company has committed itself to the global goal of "teaching the world to sing in perfect harmony." The Coca-Cola Company has been so successful because it has always had one of the most aggressive, innovative marketing teams in the world developing an aesthetic that is at once classic and cutting-edge in packaging, print advertising, even museum and factory architecture. The symbolism Coca-Cola embodies has shifted over the decades, and we can observe how this shift has affected the visual advertising tradition of the company. Since the middle of the twentieth century, Coca-Cola imagery also been co-opted by artists like Andy Warhol. Whether for mere appreciation of Coca-Cola's aesthetic or to embrace or condemn what Coca-Cola represents, artists all over the world have appropriated the company's signature flowing script and arabesque into a plethora of artistic media. In my talk, I will survey Coca-Cola's advertising and artworks that feature the company's iconic imagery and analyze them, framing them in a range of perspectives: ideological, political, economical, and so on.
Faculty Sponsor
Veronique Plesch
Sponsoring Department
Colby College. Art Dept.
CLAS Field of Study
Humanities
Event Website
http://www.colby.edu/clas
ID
1566
Coca-Cola in Art History: Advertising and Appropriation
Diamond 146
Since its invention in the late 19th century, Coca-Cola has become the most recognizable brand in the world. Its status as an international phenomenon is echoed in its mission statement: the Coca-Cola Company has committed itself to the global goal of "teaching the world to sing in perfect harmony." The Coca-Cola Company has been so successful because it has always had one of the most aggressive, innovative marketing teams in the world developing an aesthetic that is at once classic and cutting-edge in packaging, print advertising, even museum and factory architecture. The symbolism Coca-Cola embodies has shifted over the decades, and we can observe how this shift has affected the visual advertising tradition of the company. Since the middle of the twentieth century, Coca-Cola imagery also been co-opted by artists like Andy Warhol. Whether for mere appreciation of Coca-Cola's aesthetic or to embrace or condemn what Coca-Cola represents, artists all over the world have appropriated the company's signature flowing script and arabesque into a plethora of artistic media. In my talk, I will survey Coca-Cola's advertising and artworks that feature the company's iconic imagery and analyze them, framing them in a range of perspectives: ideological, political, economical, and so on.
https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/clas/2015/program/229