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Motherhood Advertising

Motherhood appeals in Indian advertising? Legion. But not what Coca-Cola has in mind.

It's been awhile now. The Coca-Cola Company had a marketing brainwave, and declared that it knew what the brand needs to become. It's a monosyllabic word, but you're still advised to allow your mind a few seconds to process it: ma.

Ma? Yes, ma, as in 'mother'. Coca-Cola, your new Mother Figure.

Whaaaaat?

If you're given to envisioning brand relationships more in terms of marital bonds, you are perfectly within your rights to do the following. One, foam apoplectic at the mouth for the very oedipal-ity of the implication. Two. Quake furiously at the very temerity of the presumption. And three, start hurling the invectives. Are they out of their minds? Just what --- or who --- does Coca-Cola think it is anyway?

Then sit back and roll it over. Forget the oedipal complex; this is all theoretical anyway. De-clutter your head for a moment. Free yourself of all those Bharat Bala productions on nationhood, all those food ads with doting mothers and even the moist-eyed TV-worried mother. And you will be left with one predominant thought to meditate on.

It's a thought encapsulated in three syllables: ambition.

It's the sterner stuff (or rather the softer stuff) the world's mightiest brands are made of. It's the stuff that takes guts to even allow as a momentary flicker through the mind. It's the stuff that's way too absurd to pay any attention to.

Except that Coca-Cola is Coca-Cola, the world's strongest brand (with a logo that's the world's second best recognized symbol across the planet). In the absurdity of the brand's ambition lies its real power (if real at all it really is).

Think about it. Can the brand ever manoeuvre itself into a position in your head strong enough to anchor (in a manner of speaking) your values, attitudes, emotions? And that too, through little other than the influence of fizz and media intimacy?

No? Why? Think it through.

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