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Comment by eatsyourtacos | Hacker News Reader

I guess I must be wrong, but I'll never understand why Coke needs that much advertising. Or anything "that well known". The argument is maybe they are that well known because of advertising, but I just don't think that's the case. Maybe for a crappy product, but not a good product.

With Coke it's the quality (and consistency) of the product. I've never tasted anything "as good" as Coke. A new fresh cold can has a bite that simply nothing else has.

4 billion a year on advertising something everyone knows about...

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In blind taste tests, Coke performs about as well as Pepsi. However, people still overwhelmingly seem to like Coke, so it's really because they like the brand. If they reduced advertising, their brand will slowly be eroded.

Blind tests sponsored by whom?

Blind sponsors

I interviewed a guy who worked at Pepsi. He said their own tests actually showed that people enjoyed Pepsi for the first sip but then preferred coke when drinking more.

Pretty sure that's because Pepsi is sweeter (the regular non-diet version). The sweetness is initially preferable, so it tends to win out in the "Pepsi Challenge" but then is overwhelming when you're drinking the whole thing.

I dont know if I am alone but for me I prefer Bottled Pepsi over Bottle Coke, but Fountain Coke over Fountain Pepsi

I also prefer Mt. Dew over them all so....

Remember "New Coke"? The Coca Cola people responded to taste tests that indicated people like Pepsi better by making it more sweet like Pepsi. Sales and PR disaster ensued, famous case study in MBA courses.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke

still think it was a trick to change the formula of "classic" coke to cheaper ingredients.

In my case I am sure that I like Coke better because of the packaging and logo design. Red & white with an old-school cursive text focuses my brain on the spicy interesting flavors. The smooth blue Pepsi logo with the circular logo makes me focus on the sugar. That, and their various "look how cool and hip we are!" Pepsi ad campaigns over the decades always seemed goofy.

They could both stop advertising forever and I would still have those associations for the rest of my life.

Coke’s advertising isn’t “hey this is what Coke is” it’s “hey aren’t you thirsty and don’t you remember how much fun you’ve had in the past while drinking Coke?”

I've never once grabbed a coke because of seeing a commercial. And I barely drink it because I have enough sugar in my life and don't want my kids chugging soda all day long like I did as a kid.

So I do see your point, I just don't get how that influences people. But again, I recognize it must to enough of a degree- I just don't feel like I'm one of them so it's hard to personally understand. Maybe I am, but I think I'm being objective about it.

The only reason you’ve ever drank a coke is because of these ads.

Do you think you’re immune to ads? Or that ads don’t work at all?

I think it’s reasonable that you’ve never seen an ad and consciously bought a coke, but that’s rarely the point of coke.

We’re not aware of all our subconscious motivations. I’d like to be, but it’s usually pretty hard for me to understand why I do things at a deep level.

> The only reason you’ve ever drank a coke is because of these ads.

This isn’t true in all cases. When I first drank a coke I was very young and wasn’t even aware of advertising. The first coke I drank was because my parents took me to McDonalds and that’s all they sell. Then I found I preferred it over Pepsi. Advertising had very little to do with my first coke, it was more contracts with fast food companies.

> it was more contracts with fast food companies.

Also known as 'advertising.' (Coke has an insane amount of control over how their products are sold at McDonalds, down to how the soda fountain equipment can look) Why do you think PepsiCo Bought KFC/Pizza Hut/Taco Bell (before spinning them back out as Yum!)?

Coke spends money so that every time you are thirsty you reach for a Coke, and part of that is the immense amount of work they do to make Coke the only beverage available in places like McDonalds, AMC, United Airlines flights, etc.

You have really loose definitions of advertising. At any rate I’ll say it again, advertising had no effect on me trying or continuing to drink coke. I’m not sure why you’re demanding to be right here on something so simple.

> Then I found I preferred it over Pepsi.

You "found" that either because of advertising, or because you were primed to like Coke more because of your childhood experience.

And the reason McDonald's only sold Coke? Advertising, of course. McDonald's believed they were better off selling Coke over Pepsi.

Advertising is everywhere. I try to avoid advertising as much as possible (adblockers, never watching ad-supported TV or movies, etc.) because I know how pervasive ads are, and how insidiously emotionally manipulative they can be. I know I can't make myself immune to their effects, so the best I can do is just avoid them as much as I can.

Maintaining a contract with a company is not advertising. It was simply matter of convenience. I could have easily been taken to taco bell and my first soda would’ve been a pepsi.

Coke does not pay to be in fast food restaurants. It’s the other way around. This would be the weirdest form of free advertising, but I think people are using that term very loosely in this thread.

Except when I watch broadcast TV and some TV shows with products embedded, I do not see ads. But the first time I had a coke was long before adblockers existed.

> This isn’t true in all cases. When I first drank a coke I was very young and wasn’t even aware of advertising.

Your parents were. Or whoever it was that bought that coke.

>Maybe I am, but I think I'm being objective about it.

Sure, not every person is a Coke consumer. What drinks do you drink?

Keep in mind, a very meaningful part of Coke's (and any other CPG company) advertising budget is paying grocery stores to put their products in prominent locations.

Coke is only one of their products, they probably need some advertising to promote their other 200 brands: https://www.coca-colacompany.com/brands

This comment sounds like you're getting a piece of that $4bn

Not sure what that is supposed to mean. I'm pointing out that it's a high quality product. There's a reason Coke absolutely dominates everything else out there. I guess to you I'm just a Coke shill though. Ok!

He means the reason you think it's a high quality product is that the $4B of advertising has had an affect on you subconsciously

Which is a pretty silly claim. There are great colas with far less advertisement, but they're small premium brands which cost the same or more. Store brands are typically awful, Pepsi is bad despite their advertisement budget.

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