Fourth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

This study seeks to understand how advertising can become a tool to reconstruct local culture. Specifically, it examines how Coke Studio Philippines, a 25-minute television show and Coca Cola’s latest marketing initiative, employs non-traditional advertising to glocalize the distinctively American brand of Coca-Cola within the Philippine locale. Currently, studies on this method of advertising are sparse, and are often situated abroad. Therefore, I aim to enrich our local literature on non-traditional advertising by determining what type of media this blend of advertisement and entertainment falls under. Guided by Robertson’s theory of glocalization, I seek to understand how the show’s utilization of traditional values and affects can reconstruct the Filipino concept of ‘home.’ I simulate a mini affective economy within the media text, which is the show, by assigning the role of producer and ‘the global’ to Coca-Cola, and the role of consumer and ‘the local’ to the show’s artists and fans. I strive to understand the socio-cultural implications of associating the local concept of ‘home’ with the international product of Coke. Through this study, I emphasize the importance of media education in informing the consuming public of the implications of non-traditional advertising, which may have subtle but far reaching ramifications to our culture.