Final Outcome

Le Report

Was It That Bad?

For this assignment, we as a group were required to pick an advertisement we were most dissatisfied with. We were to conduct thorough research about the advertisement as to why it failed as an advertisement in relation to culture and society. We were then required to re-advertise the product or brand. The advertisement that we chose and were most dissatisfied with was the Diet Coke television advertisement which featured British singer-songwriter Duffy. This advertisement was aired in 2009 in the United Kingdom. The advertisement showed Duffy coming off stage after a gig and being handed a can of Diet Coke by an assistant who tells her: "You've got about two minutes, okay?" She then cycles through the night along quiet streets, into a supermarket while singing “I Gotta Be Me” with passers by joining in. After cycling around the supermarket she returns to the concert in time to perform the encore, with on-screen text of Diet Coke’s slogan stating 'Hello You'.

What Was It Even For?

The purpose for this advertisement was to attract the targeted audiences who were British and most likely aged around 10-60. Since this was a television advertisement, it was likely that many viewers of all age, gender, and social status would come across this advertisement. This advertisement was trying to show the audience that even a busy celebrity like Duffy has the time to take a break and just enjoy life doing what she wants. While singing the song “I Gotta Be Me”, this insinuates on her wanting to do what she wants, taking a break even with her busy schedule as she is a celebrity. This is reflected on the British culture as they live in a busy society where they’re the sixth largest national economy in the world. This is evident as they make a Gross Domestic Product of $2.3 trillion. (The Heritage Foundation, 2013) This advertisement is trying to connect with the audience in attempt to send out the message that even they, the audiences deserve to take a break from their busy day and enjoy a Diet Coke doing whatever as they please. 

The advertisement can also be targeted at a slightly larger audiences as Coca-Cola used Duffy as their star in the advertisement. Coca-cola had the choice of many models and celebrities to pick from but they picked Duffy, and she isn’t exactly a slim sized celebrity. This message insinuates that Diet Coke is for people who are cautious about their weight or who want to lose weight by going on a diet yet still being able to taste the joy of a Coke. 

This is reflected on the British as 20% of United Kingdom’s population is obese. 40% of males are overweight while 30% for females. (University of Birmingham Research Centre) This advertisement is trying to make a connection with the audience by using a slightly larger celebrity in an effort to reflect and represent those who are slightly overweight as well. By using Duffy, those who are slightly larger would be able to feel a connection with Duffy. And by drinking Diet Coke, they are able to live their life the way they want it yet being able to enjoy the taste of a coke. 

Why Duffy? 

The reason why Coca-cola used a celebrity for their advertisement is to further hope that the advertisement would catch more audiences attention. Celebrity endorsement is recognized worldwide especially in United Kingdom where many famous celebrities were born. The power of a celebrity image is powerful as the British live in a society where they like the image and idea of glamour and fame. Both which are represented through a celebrity. They are famous, successful, and rich. Who wouldn't want that kind of life? This is why advertising in all forms of media nowadays contain images of a celebrity or someone famous. For Coca-cola, they used Duffy to represent Diet Coke in order to attract more audiences. Be it Duffy’s fans, people who have heard of Duffy, or even people who find her attractive. In the audiences mind, they have this idea of “If my favorite celebrity is drinking Diet Coke, I want to drink Diet Coke too!”. And by them doing so, the audiences feel as though they are on the same page as Duffy, as though they and Duffy have the same lifestyle, ultimately achieving the satisfaction of drinking the drink that a celebrity drinks. As when we see someone famous that we know in an advertisement, we are tend to be drawn to the product subconsciously. This is because in our minds, we are drawn to the idea of how the celebrity looks in the advertisement. Their hair is fabulous, their smile is charming and their eyes are shining. In our minds, we want that, we want to look as good as that, we want to be that celebrity. 

What Did We Do? I'll Tell You What...

Changes were needed to be made as the advertisement may have been misleading nor sending out a negative message. Firstly, the advertisement to most viewers made no sense as they viewed it as Duffy riding around on a bicycle while singing. It didn’t manage to sell or persuade the audience to drink Diet Coke. Many viewers also stated that her singing was terrible and she sounded more like a duck. The advertisement also violated the safety of road regulations as Duffy was not wearing any light reflective garment or gear that was installed on the bicycle. This could be imitated by children which would be very dangerous as children are young and naive and would do anything that they see in television. 

Our groups idea was to take the most British things to do such as drinking tea, and going to the pub to drink, and having it replaced with Diet Coke. As the initial advertisement  was unable to send a clear and direct persuasive message to the targeted audiences in relation to their British culture and society. We are redesigning the advertisement in order to make the message clear and direct yet not misleading or confusing. As the targeted audiences were the busy people of United Kingdom and the slightly larger audiences. We are trying to swap tea and or beer with Diet Coke. United Kingdom is a country where they love their tea, and is one of the highest tea consuming countries. In our redesigning, we are trying to get the audience the replace tea with Diet Coke. Our new slogan is “Live Life Light”, in this context, “Light” representing refreshing and cold. Tea can be heavy sometimes and what more when it’s hot. But by drinking a Diet Coke instead, you can enjoy both the refreshment and the taste of a Coke, satisfying your thirst. This can also be reflected in the busy British culture. They can be so busy sometimes, they just won’t have the time to sit down and enjoy a nice “cuppa”, but by replacing tea with Diet Coke, you are able to save time as it’s sold in a can or a bottle making it on-the-go. This would ultimately allow the busy British who are seeking a quick and refreshing fix to be satisfied with a Diet Coke. 

It is also a very British thing to do to go to a pub after work or on the weekends, where they meet up with friends to socialize and have a few drinks. But sometimes, going to a pub isn’t just about drinking one too many and getting drunk which results in forgetting the night. So by going to the pub and drinking a diet coke instead, not only are you able to enjoy the refreshment and taste the drink provides, you are also able to enjoy your night out without getting intoxicated. And where the slogan comes in- “Live Life Light”, in this context the “Light” meaning having it easy, to take it lightly- by not drinking one too many beers and end up with a bad headache the next morning, therefore taking it lightly. This idea also aims at the slightly lager audience. As it is a known fact that beer gives you what everyone calls the “beer belly”. Everyone who drinks beer knows what I’m talking about. And by drinking diet coke, you are able to reduce your sugar intake which results in less fats, ultimately resulting to cutting down the “beer belly”. This idea relates to the society of United Kingdom as its population is 20% obese and it helps fight and tackle the problem.  

Cheers Mate!

Overall our redesigning of the advertisement has been given plenty of thought and process into developing an advertisement that is much more effective and has an impact and cause that can relate to the British in many ways. Our redesigning of the advertisement is able to face the culture and social issues that the British are facing such as a hectic busy lifestyle and an increasing obesity rate. And it is able to overcome these issues through connecting with the audiences and creating impact by reflecting their lifestyles and culture in our advertisement. 

-WOO

REFERENCE

A. Harzing, 2011. UK Culture [ONLINE] Available at:

http://www.harzing.com/ukculture.htm

Latest obesity stats for England are alarming - NHS Choices, 2013. [ONLINE] Available at:

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2013/02February/Pages/Latest-obesity-stats-for-England-are-alarming-reading.aspx 

New College Manchester -What Are British People Really Like, 2012. [ONLINE] Available at:

http://www.newcollegemanchester.com/2012/12/05/what-are-british-people-really-like/

Obesity in The UK - University of Birmingham Research, 2013. [ONLINE] Available at:

http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/activity/mds/centres/obesity/obesity-uk/index.aspx

A. Harzing, 2011. UK Culture [ONLINE]

New College Manchester -What Are British People Really Like, 2012. [ONLINE] 

Obesity in The UK - University of Birmingham Research, 2013. [ONLINE] 

Latest obesity stats for England are alarming - NHS Choices, 2013. [ONLINE]

Whatscookingamerica.net. 2013. Afternoon Tea History, High Tea History, History of English High Tea, Tea Etiquette, American Tea Time. [online] Available at: http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/HighTeaHistory.htm

[Accessed: 4 Dec 2013]. 

Dillner, L. 2013. Is drinking tea bad for you?. [online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/apr/01/is-drinking-tea-bad-for-you [Accessed: 4 Dec 2013].

Projectbritain.com. 2013. Spare time (Leisure) in England, Britain, UK. [online] Available at: http://projectbritain.com/weekends.htm [Accessed: 3 Dec 2013].

Beerandpub.com. 2013. BBPA Home - Hot topics - Culture & tourism. [online] Available at: http://www.beerandpub.com/hot-topics/culture-tourism

 [Accessed: 3 Dec 2013].

  

England.org.za. 2013. The English Pub. [online] Available at: http://www.england.org.za/the-english-pub.php#.Up2qMGQW3GA

[Accessed: 3 Dec 2013].

  

London2012usefulinformationguide.com. 2013. English Pub Culture. [online] Available at: http://www.london2012usefulinformationguide.com/drinking-in-london/london-pubs/english-pub-culture/ [Accessed: 3 Dec 2013].

Wallblog.co.uk. 2013. Infographic: what do young people think of celebrity endorsements? | The Wall Blog. [online] Available at: http://wallblog.co.uk/2013/06/11/infographic-what-do-young-people-think-of-celebrity-endorsements/ [Accessed: 4 Dec 2013].

Unknown. 2013. [online] Available at: http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/10636.pdf [Accessed: 4 Dec 2013].

News.liv.ac.uk. 2013. Celebrity endorsement encourages children to eat junk food - University of Liverpool News. [online] Available at: http://news.liv.ac.uk/2013/03/08/celebrity-endorsement-encourages-children-to-eat-junk-food/ [Accessed: 4 Dec 2013].

PwC. 2013. The outlook for the Entertainment & Media industry to 2016. [online] Available at: http://www.pwc.co.uk/entertainment-media/issues/entertainment-media-outlook.jhtml [Accessed: 4 Dec 2013].

Marketingweek.co.uk. 2013. The UK's top 10 most popular ads on YouTube | News | Marketing Week. [online] Available at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/in-depth-digital/the-uks-top-10-most-popular-ads-on-youtube/4006611.article

[Accessed: 4 Dec 2013].

Jahkno. 2013. Behind The Scenes: Pepsi Beyoncé “Mirrors” ­Official Video #BeyHereNow | Jahkno. [online] Available at: http://jahkno.com/2013/04/behind-the-scenes-pepsi-beyonce-mirrors-%C2%ADofficial-video-beyherenow/

[Accessed: 4 Dec 2013].

Makarechi, K. 2013. Beyonce's Big Announcement REVEALED. [online] Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/04/beyonce-mirrors-beyherenow-pepsi-ad-video_n_3013780.html [Accessed: 4 Dec 2013].

Concept for Final Outcome

After conducting all the necessary research, we have come to a conclusion where we would like to re advertise diet coke with the concept of replacing beer and tea into diet coke. This is because the original diet coke with Duffy singing advertisement did not make any sense. We choose beer and tea to replace with diet coke because going to pubs and drinking beer is a very popular and common thing to do in the British, and tea is the national drink in the Britain. Both beer and tea are culture of the British. As our tag is "live life light", we replace beer with diet coke because drinking beer long term will make you gain weight and have a "beer belly" which make you heavy. By drinking diet coke, you will live your life "light". Besides that, over consume beer will lead to hangover, one of the symptoms of hangover is headache, dizziness and it feels like your head very heavy, all you want to do is just sit at one place and not move. But if you drink diet coke instate of beer, you will not ever get hangovers and you will able to "live live light" as you are able to  have fun and enjoy the situations or parties without any worriers. Moving on to the tea, tea is consider to be a very formal and serious. You will have to make the tea before drinking it, it has too many processes. But if you drink diet coke, you do not have to go through any making process, all you need to do is to get a can of diet coke, open it and you can drink it, its very easy and simple. "Live Life Light" means to live your life simple, take it easy, drinking diet coke is easier and simple compare drinking tea.

Would you like some tea

HOW BAD IS DRINKING TEA

-Due to “The Guardian” online newspaper, British people drink around three mugs of tea per day.  

-There was a case of a 47-year-old lady, who had brittle bones and lost all of her teeth because of drinking too much tea. (case taken from New England Journal of Medicine).

-Another thing is that black tea may be not so good for prostates.

-University of Glasgow made a research and found that, men who drank more than seven cups of tea per day had a 50 per cent higher risk of prostate cancer.

-According to the paper in the British Medical Journal, drinking a very hot tea-above 70C may increase the likelihood of oesophageal cancer.   

English Afternoon Tea

Afternoon tea in England is usually taken between 3 and 5 o’clock in the late afternoon and it’s also called Low tea. Why? Because it is taken in a room with low or coffee tables.

Here are some types of Low or Afternoon tea:

-Cream Tea-tea, scones, jam and cream

-Light Tea-tea, scones and sweets

-Full Tea-tea, savouries, scones, sweets and desserts

Prepared by Mohira

Dillner, L. 2013. Is drinking tea bad for you?. [online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/apr/01/is-drinking-tea-bad-for-you [Accessed: 4 Dec 2013].

Whatscookingamerica.net. 2013. Afternoon Tea History, High Tea History, History of English High Tea, Tea Etiquette, American Tea Time. [online] Available at: http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/HighTeaHistory.htm [Accessed: 4 Dec 2013]. 

British Beer Culture

Beer in British

Beer was introduced into England in a very early age. Beer from this time had to be consumed fresh, was served cloudy and would have produced little or no foam. To aid its taste and keeping properties bitter herbs and spices may have been used. In the 20th century, Britain has one of the highest drinking rates in the world.The average consumption for males as 22 litres of pure alcohol a year compared with just nine and a half litres for women. Beer consumption in British is very high.

Here are 3 English must drink beers that through a combination of luck, drunken raving and sheer endurance have earned the reputation of classic.

1.Newcastle Brown Ale: Back in year 1927, this is now the best selling bottled beer in Europe, and is one of Britain’s most well-known brews, famous for being the first Northern-style Brown Ale. Jim Porter, the brewer, had tried for five years to produce a beer to rival the clarity and purity of Bass. Even though he failed, he did come up with something new which has been much-copied since. This Northern Brown Ale is not to be confused with the standard British Brown Ale, which is a Mild beer in a bottle. 

2. Bass Ale: Brewed since year 1777 in Burton-on-Trent. When dark stouts and porters were the most popular beers, William Bass set out to copy the London brewer Hodgson and make a pale coloured beer. He was fortunate that the waters of the Trent were perfectly suited to his hoppy ale, and soon other brewers flocked to Burton to make the new and successful Pale Ale. When served in the cask, drinkers found this Pale Ale more refreshing than the malt-accented ales they were used to, but it was  more bitter, so the term Bitter was soon used to describe this popular new beer.

 

3. Worthington White Shield : Back in Year 1829 and changing brewers several times since then, White Shield is now owned by Coors, though brewed at the mostly autonomous Museum Brewing Company. This is the genuine Burton Pale Ale. When Bass took over the Worthington brewery in 1927 they began to filter and pasteurise their own Bass Pale Ale, but kept this going as an example of the real thing.

Effects of Drinking Beer

Drinking too much beer will have many bad effects after a long time of period. One of the bad effects is  getting Live damage. Long term heavy drinkers have a high risk developing liver disease such as fatty liver (steatosis) or alcoholic hepatitis.Any amount of alcohol can produce damage to the liver.If an individual has an underlying liver condition such as hepatitis B or C, or prior damage from alcohol or other diseases, the liver is very sensitive to any amount of alcohol.Getting a "beer belly" is also one of the bad effects fir long term heavy drinkers. Drinking beer means drinking more calories than are expended each day, is the primary cause of larger bellies.A typical beer has about 150 calories and if you sit down for several hours in one position, you will end up with serious calorie overload. Beer is an alcohol and alcohol can increase one's appetite. Furthermore, when you're drinking beer at a bar or a party, there's a high chances that there will be food on your hand which are normally fattening, for example pizza, chicken wings or other fried food. Besides that, over consume beer will lead to hangover. There are many symptoms of hangover, which are headache, drowsiness, dry mouth, dizziness, concentration problem,swearing, nausea, anxiety and many more.Dehydration cause hangover and dehydration is cause by alcohol. However, hangover can be minimised by drinking plenty of water or sweet drinks. 

Im doing research about beer because going to the pub and drinking beer is a very common thing in Britain, it is their culture. The reason of making and producing a advertisements is to promote and explain how good and effective their product works comparing with other competitors. In the original Duffy diet coke advertisement, they did not explain how good is the diet coke is and this will confuse the audience. And that is why we are re-advertise diet coke with different elements such as beer. Drinking beer will make that person gain weight and a "beer belly". By drinking drinking diet coke instate of beer, that person will not gain weight or a beer belly because it is a diet coke, it perpose is to reduce the chances of gaining weight.

-Ryan

British Culture and Pubs

Pubs are very much part of British culture, one must visit a pub once visits England. Pub is one of the national's significant heritage blended in with life style of british people. Pub is an English word originated in England itself, which stands for Public House. Its is a place for british people to socialise among friends. Pubs are considered one of the few places in England that breaking the conversation with complete strangers is socially acceptable and appropriate. 

Alcohol drinks are served such as wine spirits and the most common can be non other than the English brewed beer. Food is also serves in the pubs mostly something tasty and filling. Entertainment such as life music, live broadcast football match, and fun games like dart are commonly used to attract customers. Pub is not just a place for people for working adults to go grab a beer, but it also a focal point of the local community. English pub welcomes every customers from all age groups, including teenagers, old people, and even family with very young children, however the alcoholic beverages are served to 18 years and above only. 

There are over 5,300 pubs established all over British territory. Average british people spend at least once every week visiting pubs. More than 75% of adults visit pubs more than once a week and 30% are considered as regular customers. This shows that pubs play an important role in daily social lives of british people. Pubs are said to be the Heart of England by Samuel Pepys.

By Watsakan

Beerandpub.com. 2013. BBPA Home - Hot topics - Culture & tourism. [online] Available at: http://www.beerandpub.com/hot-topics/culture-tourism [Accessed: 3 Dec 2013].

England.org.za. 2013. The English Pub. [online] Available at: http://www.england.org.za/the-english-pub.php#.Up2qMGQW3GA [Accessed: 3 Dec 2013].

London2012usefulinformationguide.com. 2013. English Pub Culture. [online] Available at: http://www.london2012usefulinformationguide.com/drinking-in-london/london-pubs/english-pub-culture/ [Accessed: 3 Dec 2013].

What do British people like doing at the weekends?

British people (families, especially) usually spend their weekends with their families. On Saturday and Sunday people normally go shopping. That is why all shops are so crowded at this time.

In past few years shops were not permitted to open on a Sunday. Nowadays Sundays already became like any other day with open shops. And some families prefer to spend their time shopping rather than visiting church.

Year after year, Britain is becoming less Christian country, with fewer people who is supporting the idea of going to Church every Sunday. But there are some Christian’s who think that Sunday should be considered as a special time given to worshipping God.

How do people spend their free time?

   1) Television

This is the most common activity in the UK. According to the statistics, the average time spent on watching TV is 25 hours per person per week. Television programmes are mostly about gardening, cooking, holidays, animals and wildlife. These are common television programmes UK society watch:

- DIY programs (means “do it yourself”). They are very popular because many people love spending their time by decorating their homes and gardens.

-Drama and sitcoms(“Men Behaving Badly”, “Inspector Morse”, “Cracker”)

-Soaps(“Eastenders”, “Coronation Street”, “Emmerdale”, “Neighbours”, “Home and Away”)

-Reality programmes(“Big Brother”)

-American programmes(“Friends”, “Will and Grace”, “Frasier”, “Sabrina the teenage witch”, “The Simpsons”).

2) Radio

People in UK listen to an average 15 hours and 50 minutes of radio each week.

The most famous radio station people listen to is “Top 40”(pop music chart).  

   3) Digital Devices

According to the statistics done by the UK government, 88% of Great Britain households had a CD player and 79% a mobile phone (2005/06).

56% of households in UK had a desktop computer, 30% had a laptop, and 7% had a handheld computer. 

   4) Entertaining 

Another popular activity in UK is visiting friends or relatives.

   5) Cinema

In 1998 visiting the cinema is became the most popular outdoor activity in UK. British people made 123 million visits to the cinema.

   6) Eating out

Sometimes people prefer to go eat out. The average price eating in normal restaurant may be around 20 pounds sterling (without alcohol drinks).

   7) Homes and Gardens

Gardening became a popular activity back from Roman times. British are proud of their gardens.

     8) Pubs

“Pub”-is short for Public house. There are around 60 000 pubs in the UK. Pub is an important part of British life. People normally go to pub to meet fiends, socialize, eat, talk and relax. Pubs have traditional names which date back over 600 years. Here are some of them:

-The Chequers

-The White Swan

-The Crown

-The King’s Arms

-The Red Lion

-The White Horse

9) Sports

Football is the most popular sport in UK.

Reference:Projectbritain.com. 2013. Spare time (Leisure) in England, Britain, UK. [online] Available at: http://projectbritain.com/weekends.htm [Accessed: 3 Dec 2013].

Prepared by Mohira