Drink It, My Friend! (V3)

Drink It, My Friend!

The advertising industry in Turkey experienced a lack of creativity, capital and technology before 2000, because the visual electronic media only started to make a great amount of money in the mid-1990s. The spread of new visual media experiences and money to the advertising industry took time. It is true that there had always been a few successful campaigns, but the industry itself could not create stable success. Later, advertising agencies had to learn to use time and money efficiently after the devastating economic / political crisis in Turkey during 2000-2001. While the country was still recovering from the crisis, Cola Turka entered the market as a new soda with one of the most successful advertising campaigns in Turkish history.

Cola Turka's two TV commercials listed below were first aired in 2003. On these TV commercials, once the Americans drink Cola Turka they start to acquire Turkish cultural values and speak Turkish. The main message is that the Americans who invented the original cola prefer Cola Turka. In the beginning, we see people on a truck screaming "sampiyon Turkiye", which means "Turkey is the champion". It is related to the most popular sport "futbol” (soccer) in Turkey. This is how Turks celebrate soccer victory in international tournaments. Next, we see Chevy Chase meet with a guy in a bar who has a cowboy hat. They start talking and the guy who has a cowboy hat speaks in Turkish and drinks Turkish cola. He asks Chase how "yenge" is doing. That is a very Turkish way of asking how his wife is doing. The rest of the commercial stresses the message and in one case we see that Mr. Chase grows a moustache. The way that the commercial mocks both cultures is very smart. It draws attention to the commercial while delivering the message.



FIRST COMMERCIAL _( The video on Youtube does not show the beginning of the first commercial, so I had to find a different link. The fact that the video has a different codec on this link, I could not convert and uploaded it on Youtube). Alternative Link (No Beginning)

SECOND COMMERCIAL:



Focusing on a specific quality of a product is one of the key aspects in advertising. For example, everybody knows that Volvo produces cars that have many safety features and BMW produces fast cars. Cola Turka commercials have the same pattern, too. It can be assumed that nationalism was the specific quality of Cola Turka. There is nothing directly related to Cola Turka's taste; the focus is on nationalism. According to Gitlin, consumers feel that they acquire the qualities of a brand when they buy that product. From that perspective, consumers who buy Cola Turka will feel more nationalistic. However, nationalistic branding was not something only used by Cola Turka. Nationalistic branding was very popular in the United States, especially after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States. For advertising, marketing a brand at the right time and in the right way is very important. When the commercials were aired on TV in July 2003 in Turkey, Iraq had already been invaded by the U.S. and coalition forces. At that time, a majority of the Turkish people believed that the United States posed a threat to the whole region, which led to the rise of anti-Americanism and Turkish nationalism.

I remember how people were in rush to buy Cola Turka after these commercials were aired. People from any class, age, and sex wanted to taste the new cola in the market. I remember myself buying it in the first week of its release. Well, to be honest, I did not like it and have not drunk it since. On the other hand, it is the second biggest brand after Coke Cola in the soda market in Turkey now. Pepsi lost its place to Cola Turka in a very short amount of time. Successful brand marketing always sells and so companies from developing countries should not feel insecure. Finally, they should focus on creative messages and productions. Thanks to the Internet, today, there are more opportunities and ways to deliver a message, and show a product. Developing countries are still learning how to do more professional advertising campaigns. It is a hard and time-consuming process. Cola Turka's campaign is a good example of using financial and creative sources effectively from the perspective of acting as a professional in the market.