The Share a Coke Campaign is what I want to use as my civil artifact for my speech, so I thought what would be a perfect artifact for my essay? Pepsi of course.
If you remember during the Super Bowl an ad aired starring Steve Carrel, Cardi B, and Lil Jon responding to people at a diner who were wondering if Pepsi was okay. They very enthusiastically convinced the person ordering that Pepsi was way more than okay. I thought that this add was particularly funny because it seemed unreal when it was playing. Every single time you go to a restaurant and they serve Pepsi products and you ask for Coke they ask if Pepsi is okay.
This took me by surprise because of how Pepsi embraced their role as inferior to Coke and used it to their benefit. I also thought that one thing that was particularly interesting about this add was the choice of celebrities used in it as they picked one of the most beloved comedians ever in Steve Carrel. Most people have seen the Office and thereby would trust what he has to say. This ad is targeting all of the people who would normally dismiss Pepsi as simply a second-rate version of Coke.
Coke being better than Pepsi is a largely held belief by mostly all people especially in the United States. This add appeals to the ethos, logos, and pathos of the audience.
Now that I’ve actually written this proposal out, I realize that this would be not that good of an artifact for my essay. I realize that the only reason why I’d even pick this in the first place is because Pepsi is related to Coke. But other than that, there is really no good reason for me to pick this topic because it is kinda trash.
I thought it was interesting that you took a look at both pepsi and coke because they are huge competitors. Pepsi made a very good super bowl commercials that is very memorable because it captured a lot of pop culture at the time. Although it is interesting to take a look at both sides I agree with you that this may not be the best topic for an essay. If you wanted to stick with this idea and write about Pepsi I would maybe take a look at how their competition influenced civic engagement.