Smell Essay

In the Pepsi- Cola commercials depicting a young girl as a Pepsi enthusiast, familiar allusions and humor are used to represent the sender’s message. The sender, being the Pepsi Company, attempts to entice the viewer into purchasing their soft drink by showing that it is indeed more satisfying than their counterpart Coca- Cola. The familiar music and ideas within the commercial broaden the consumer’s imagination in thinking about the experience involved with drinking the soda. By playing to viewers’ emotions through language and logic, Pepsi- Cola implants a permanent stamp of familiarity in the brains of the people who have seen the commercial, hopefully resulting in better sales of their product.
Emotion, being the main factor that causes a person to act in a certain manner, is a very important tool for Pepsi- Cola exploit in order to get what they want. Emotion as a whole is something that sticks with someone constantly, and after seeing this commercial, the sweet little girl is never forgotten. The small, quaint young woman serves as pathos for the commercial, in that she brings out a warm and heartfelt feeling in the viewers. To automatically associate this young girl with a product is a great marketing tool that will make someone choose Pepsi over Coke any day. Backing the little girl is a soothing musical arrangement that helps to set the mood of the commercial. Along with the girl’s tone of voice, the tune alludes to the Italian mafia based film “The Godfather”. As a well known classic, this movie is quite well to do in the hearts of many Americans. The soothing, but also humorous feeling received when watching the relationship between the music and the pathos is the feeling that Pepsi wants a buyer to associate with their product, in hopes that it won’t disappoint.
The language within the commercial is quite humorous, but also familiar in order to keep with “The Godfather” type trend. The young girl breaks into a well-known voice over of the Don Corleone himself and brings a smile to the viewers’ face. The change into the different tone is the defining point of the commercial, showing the passion with which she demands a Pepsi instead of a Coke. This passion is a representation to viewers that there is a distinct difference between the two products, and Pepsi is in fact the better choice. “The Godfather” allusion is only an insurance tool to better familiarize the viewer with the product.
Through the discussed devices, the Pepsi- Cola commercial influences people’s logic and alters their views on the product itself. After seeing this commercial Pepsi is no longer just a beverage to the consumer, it’s a friendly face. When someone stares at the shelves of sodas and stumbles across a Pepsi, they will think of how adorable the little girl was, and how it reminds them of when they saw “The Godfather” for the first time with their Dad. The warm and happy sensation they got when they looked at that screen will flow back into their veins, and they’ll purchase the product. In the event that this occurs one is hooked, for the Pepsi- Cola Company has altered your train of thought, and you are satisfied.
This Pepsi commercial manifests some of the most adored things in American society by simply knowing their message, and attacking consumers’ emotions to reach their goal. After viewing a commercial of this caliber, one can’t help but want to see it over and over again, and that is how you will consume the product as well. By understanding their customers Pepsi can mold their product into anything they want it to represent, and what it represents is always what the viewers enjoy.

Coca- Cola