Coca Cola is a company we’re all probably familiar with. With its sheer fame and success, Coke has launched and bought numerous brands, one of the most well-known being Sprite. The Lemon-Lime soda brand stands firm as one of the top soda options all over the globe, continuing to broaden its scopes with a variety of flavors and options. Amongst those numerous options, Cranberry alone sits at the peak right behind the classic Lemon-Lime, mostly thanks to the viral commercial promoting the flavor. Partnered with NBA superstar Lebron James, the legendary Sprite Cranberry commercial effectively incorporates rhetorical strategies and appeals, specifically ethos, pathos, and kairos to sell the product through the emphasis of unity.
Contents of the ad aside, the fact that Lebron James was the model to endorse this flavor promotes increased sales of Sprite Cranberry. Lebron, being a 4 time NBA champion and wearing the title of a superstar since his high school years, carries one of the largest fan bases of any individual in the world. As a centerpiece in the GOAT debate, Lebron not only has the support of his personal fans, but of all basketball fans in general. Even better, for close to 20 years, he’s has never been involved in any controversy and doesn’t have any negative record. With that, he has credibility. He has a positive and reliable character, so in addition to the basketball community, anyone who simply knows of him is inclined to think of him favorably. Lebron’s one of those unique cases where all different people, sports fans or not, can come together in unison to support the NBA star and celebrity. No matter what he says, there will always be millions that will back him up. By having such a credible figure singing so jolly about how good this Cranberry flavor is, Sprite expanded their horizons by uniting millions to follow in the footsteps of Lebron and buy this product, increasing their sales.
Lebron James Sprite Cranberry Ad
Now, officially getting into the contents of the ad, the entire commercial is structured to utilize pathos in appealing and promoting Sprite Cranberry to the audience. The story of the ad can be split into two parts: before and after Lebron’s entrance. Before Lebron enters the scene, a family is on the verge of a ruined Christmas with food flying everywhere, the tree falling down, and just overall chaos. It seems as though everything’s burning to the ground and Christmas is ruined, prompting viewers to sympathize and feel bad. Christmas is known as the happiest time of the year, so it hurts and pains everyone to see a Christmas go downhill for this family. However, once Lebron makes his grand entrance with, of course, a Sprite Cranberry in his hand while asking the question, “Wanna Sprite Cranberry?”, every problem begins to solve itself. The tree magically stands back up on its own, every frown turns upside down into a smile, and the whole entire group reunites as a happy family around the fireplace (and Lebron) at the end. What better Christmas could a family ask for? With such a satisfactory, jolly ending, the audience can’t help but celebrate and be happy for the lovely family. That’s exactly how Sprite appeals to the audience through pathos in this ad. Following the story, viewers are moved to go from sad and down to happy, and this positive shift is credited to the product itself, Sprite Cranberry. As the soft drink is what prompts the adjustment of scenes in the ad, consumers are more likely to purchase the product believing it’s related to causing unity and, therefore, happiness.
With the use of Lebron James in an emotionally appealing narrative, the Sprite commercial is all set to advertise their new cranberry flavor, but the question now is: when? Out of all the different possible seasons and occasions Sprite could’ve released the commercial during, they chose Christmas season, which would prove to have been a good idea. The brand took hold of the kairos of the happiest time of the year. Christmas is the one time of year when everyone is thirsty (no pun intended) for and desires love and happiness from and with others. As social expectations reach all time highs during the holiday season, feelings of loneliness grow in most people as they fail to meet those expectations as suggested by multiple studies. However, the growing loneliness doesn’t change the fact that this time of year is all about spending time with your loved ones and enjoying the moment, and the ad suggests that the new cranberry flavor will allow just that. As mentioned in the earlier paragraph, the premise of the commercial is to suggest a relationship between Sprite Cranberry and unity and happiness, so it’s no coincidence that this ad was dropped during the season when people are most desperate for unity and happiness. As Sprite came out with their new product, they effectively took advantage of the kairotic opportunity of the Christmas season to set a theme and foundation for their super-hit commercial.
Though not very long, Sprite was able to squeeze in a number of rhetorical strategies into their cranberry flavor advertisement, three of the most notable being ethos, pathos, and kairos. As the majority of the millions of viewers, thanks to Lebron, are yearning for the same type of unity during this season, Sprite Cranberry implies that “I am the answer” by being the hero that saved a family’s Christmas in the commercial. The brand successfully made every factor and appeal flow together smoothly to build a theme of unity, encouraging increased sales of the new, now iconic flavor.
Works Cited
“h1storyheadline.” University Wire, Dec 06, 2019. ProQuest, https://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/wire-feeds/h1storyheadline/docview/2383737060/se-2.
“Sprite Cranberry (4K)” YouTube, uploaded by Retrofish, 11 December 2018, https://youtu.be/cA0Mad-fTuo?si=d8UnsslcddPkjb5_
Wigfield, Andrea, and John Ratcliffe. Why Do People Feel Lonely at Christmas? Here’s What the Research Says. 20 Dec. 2022, https://theconversation.com/why-do-people-feel-lonely-at-christmas-heres-what-the-research-says-196671.