Chips and Coke

Potato chips have always seemed something extremely mundane and common, they have never for me carried much weight about culture here in America. However, after reading Freedman and Jufsky, it is evident how producers market their items towards different socioeconomic classes and what that has to say about American culture in general. The authors bring up the point that upper class consumers of potato chips have an affinity for what they called natural authenticity. The idea of natural authenticity stems from the idea that upper class people are more focused on the idea of eating healthy, and natural food. This corresponds to the idea that lower class people also have a form of authenticity in relation to traditionalality. This traditional authenticity relates is geared toward the lower class person who puts more emphasize on things like family recipe, American ideals, and family traditions. The same concept can be seen in advertisements for Coca~Cola, in their original advertisements, Coke used the mantra "Adds Life Too..." This saying was often used in accordance with a traditional Middle America family spending time together. Coke was basically saying that while your traditions are good, Coke can add even more life to them, that without Coke, you aren't truly living. Later on, Coke changed its Mantra to "Have a Coke," this mantra was often accompanied by a pretty young white girl who appeared abviously upper middle class compared to the average worker I their previous advertisements. Through this, Coke was able to reach all levels of society, tiring their product back to the nuclear family for the lower class, while creating a sense of independence and well being for the upper classes.