There are a few dots I want you to connect. Less access to affordable healthcare + disproportionate advertising from alcohol, tobacco, and junk food companies sounds like a recipe for disaster, right? In an era where people are thirsty for representation, should we be weary of targeted ads from industries that impact the health of the community? Well, duh. They are making money off of our health issues.
After Sprite began targeting youth, primarily black ones with their 1994 Obey Your Thirst Campaign (which predictably featured tons of black entertainers and athletes), they grew tremendously in value. Via There’s Sprite At The Cookout:
“The targeting proved successful. According to The Advertising Age Encyclopedia of Advertising, “in 1990 Sprite was a minor product in a competitive soft drink marketplace.” In 2000, Sprite was the No. 5 top-selling U.S. brand and had 58 percent market share in the lemon-lime soda category.”
Sources + Further Reading
- ‘Dinnertimin’ and ‘No Tipping’: How Advertisers Targeted Black Consumers in the 1970s(Lenika Cruz)
- When Jim Crow Drank Coke (Grace Elizabeth Hale)
- A Brief History of Racist Soft Drinks Adam Clark Estes
- Black, Hispanic Kids Targeted by Ads for Soda and High-Calorie Foods (Maggie Fox)
- A Brief History of Companies Courting African American Dollars (Elena Gooray)
- When soda companies target minorities, is it exploitation? (Marion Nestle)
- Killing The Black Body in The A-Z Guide To Black Oppression