Hall 1

Briana Hall
Dr. Kurlinkus
Authoring in the New Information Age
10 February 2015
Subvertisement Campaign Proposal Against Coke Zero
Although the Coca-Cola company has come out with many ad campaigns for Coke Zero in the
past few years, their efforts are ironic and represent a product that is, in some ways, more
detrimental to consumers health than regular Coke and Diet Coke are. In addition to the already
known harmful chemicals that are present in all dark sodas, Coke Zero actually includes
Acesulfame Potassium, which is a carcinogenic chemical that not only causes cancer, but also
has negative neurological and metabolic effects.
By mimicking Coke Zeros sleek ads, which are majorly directed toward male demographics and
use mostly gray scale shading and large amounts of white space, my subvertisements appear as
regular Coke Zero ads. However, they use text and a combination of overt and covert visual
details to undermine both the product and the companys claims.
Beginning with the ad that most clearly mimics a Coke Zero ad is the subvertisement that uses
the traditional Coke Zero logo, but simply adds on the word difference to the end of the brand
name. Therein, the advertisement appears to say Coke Zero Difference, implying through the
clearly legible flowline that there is zero difference between Coke Zero and the original CocaCola. Moreover, the subvertisement insinuates that there is no difference between the negative
effects that Coke Zero and the original Coca-Cola have on consumers.
The second simplest subvertisement in my reactionary ad campaign is the one that employs text
to explain the negative effects of Coke Zero. While emphasizing the aforementioned dangers of
Acesulfame Potassium, the subvertisement employs both clean lines and the lines of the original
Coke Zero ad as vectors, in order to visually point to the important information being discussed
through text. Accordingly, these lines are used to frame the text, which has been grouped on one
side of the ad. As the two instances of text are formatted the same and are within close proximity
to each other, the ad successfully draws clear attention to the text. Moreover, this text is
juxtaposed with a clean image of a crispy Coke Zero can in front of an exciting black and white
picture of fireworks (similar to the little bursts/explosions that Coke Zero ads use in the
background of their ads from time to time), which also serve as an actor for vectors pointing to
the Coke Zero bottle, which then becomes a focal point and goal of the ad as well.
My third ad, the most overt of the subvertisements, presents a Coke Zero can placed in front of a
Caution, Chemotherapy Material warning sign, which clearly signifies the carcinogenic quality
of Coke Zero. Likewise, this image is set next to an altered version of the Real Coca-Cola
Taste, Zero Calories branded phrase, which instead asserts Real Coca-Cola Taste, Real CocaCola Consequences. Again, the ad forwardly addresses the similar, harsh health effects of Coke
Zero in comparison to Coca-Cola. Though this ad is rather simple in its visual approaches, it
does use forms and white space effectively, and also presents a stark contrast of the sleek, black
color scheme of Coke Zero with a bright yellow cautionary sign.

Hall 2

The fourth and fifth subvertisements I have made call readers attention to the negative effects
that Coke Zero, despite being a healthier soda, sill has on consumers teeth. The fourth, a very
covert ad unlike the previously discussed overt ad, is an intimate, zoomed-in shot of a womans
beautiful smile next to a clean and attractive bottle of Coke Zero. Though this bottle initially
seems to be the goal of the ad, a dentists pick acts as a vector, creating a visual pathway for the
reader to follow, which points at a cavity in the womans mouth. Though very subtle, the cavity
represents how the original motto Share a coke with is ironically used to represent the idea
that drinking Coke Zero means sharing a coke with a cavity and/or the dentist.
The fifth and final subvertisement that I have created is an interactive ad that also comments on
the erosion of teeth caused by Coke Zero. The foundational page is a pretty, light blue page,
complete with a lot of white space and a zoomed in picture of a clean, white tooth centered in the
middle of the page. However, an opaque page that is designed to lay on top of the first page is
lightly orange (therefore contrasting with the previous blue on the color wheel, with calming
cool versus more tense warm colors), and replaces the orange tooth with an eroded, carbonation
covered tooth that has been eaten away at. With the Coke Zero logo cleanly placed overhead, a
longshot of a Coke Zero at the bottom of the page depicts a line of soda spraying (and therein
creating a vector) onto the tooth above. This additional detail creates an even higher degree of
focus on the eroded tooth above.
In all, the five previously discussed subvertisements come together to form a cohesive and
effective campaign against Coca-Colas Coke Zero by pointing out the negative side effects in
ironic and artful ways that mimic the companys original advertisements.

di
f
f
e
r
e
n
c
e

Zer
o
adver
t
i
s
esacl
os
er
t
as
t
et
ot
heor
i
gi
nal
CocaCol
a,
butdoess
o
byaddi
ngi
nt
he
car
ci
nogeni
cchemi
cal
Aces
ul
f
amePot
as
s
i
um.

Notonl
ydoes
Aces
ul
f
amePot
as
s
i
um
caus
ecancer
,
buti
tal
s
o
hasot
hernegat
i
ve
neur
ol
ogi
caland
met
abol
i
cef
f
ect
st
hat
canendanger
cons
umer
s

heal
t
h.
i
n

t
hecar
ci
nogeni
cchemi
cal
Acesul
f
awhi
chnotonl
y
causescancer
tal
sohas