Mason Robertson

Professor Berry

COMM 200

10 May 2023
Prompt 1: Writing an Ad

If you ever need a little pick me up throughout the day, Red Bull Energy Drink is just one

flight away. In various flavors ranging from the original, strawberry apricot, blueberry,

watermelon and so many other delicious flavors! Just one 8.4 fluid ounce can of Red Bull is

packed with 80 milligrams of caffeine to give you that perfect extra boost to help you get through

your day. Not a fan of sugar? Red Bull also offers a sugar free and zero calorie option just for

you! Red Bull is the perfect drink to help you vitalize your body and mind, enjoyed by many

professional athletes, working professionals, travelers, college students, and everyone in

between. At Red Bull, we value sustainability and acknowledge our responsibility to the

environment, so remember, after enjoying your Red Bull Energy Drink to recycle your can! We

are here to offer you a delicious drink to give you that perfect finishing touch to help you through

your day! Red Bull Energy Drink is always here for you and remember, Red Bull Gives you

Wiiings!

Information and Slogan: (Red Bull Energy Drink - Official Website)

Prompt 4: Defining Advertising

Coca – Cola (Coke) utilizes both advertising and public relations (PR) to build its brand

and to promote their products. While their public relations and advertising teams have a similar

goal in promoting the company and their products, they use different strategies to do so. Their

advertising team is going to focus on using different channels of communication such as social

media, television, radio, etc. On the other hand, the public relations team is going to focus on

building a mutually beneficial relationship between the company and the shareholders.
 First, we will look at Coke’s advertising efforts, keeping in mind that the goal of their

advertisements is to create awareness of their products, build brand loyalty with the audience,

and to hopefully increase sales in some way. One of the biggest ways that Coke advertises their

product/brand is through Super Bowl advertisements. The Super Bowl is a huge event that

millions of people view a year and is a great way for a company to put their product and brand

out there and for audiences to view. One example of when Coke utilized Super Bowl advertising

is in 2014 with their “Going all the Way” campaign. In the advertisement, it is first at a high

school football game, where the “underdog” was put in the game and was told not to mess it up,

he had a clear shot to run to the touchdown, however ran past it and ran all the way to the “Super

Bowl stadium” where he ran to the touchdown and was rewarded with a Coke (Coca Cola Super

Bowl Commercial 2014 "Going all the Way", 2014). In this campaign, Coke can spread their

product by having the Coke logo throughout the commercial and have their product displayed at

the end and building loyalty with the audience by showing them to continue to push their own

boundaries.

Second, we will look at Coke’s PR efforts, keeping in mind the goal of promoting their

product, but in a mutually beneficial way for the company and shareholders. One way that Coke

utilizes PR practices is by using press releases. Press releases allow the company to be

transparent with shareholders and share information that may be significant to them, building a

sense of trust between the company and the shareholders, but also with consumers. An example

of these press releases are reports. In the “Coca-Cola Reports First Quarter 2023 Results” press

release, they explain their net revenues, operating margin, earnings per share, market share, cash

flow, etc. which gives shareholders and consumers a look into the company (Coca-Cola Reports
First Quarter 2023 Results, 2023). This allows Coke to be seen as an open and honest brand with

their shareholders, but also promotes their brand and product with the audience.

Overall, Coke’s public relations and advertising teams are using their strategies to build

and promote their brand and their products. However, where they differ is in the strategies they

use. The way in which they relay information to the audience from a PR standpoint, using press

releases is different from how they relay a message in an advertisement.

Prompt 6: Message Formation

One of my go-to energy bars is the RXBAR. It is full of natural ingredients, including the

main ingredients: egg whites, almonds, cashews, and dates. When researching the company, I

found that they had originally came out with the bar back in 2013, however they have become

more popular throughout the years. One of the major ways that the RXBAR stands out is with

their “No B.S.” slogan that is stated on the front of their packaging, in an effort to remove the

“overthought” and “overinflated” protein bar industry (RXBAR: No B.S., 2018). Anyone who

watches an advertisement can tell that they take the slogan seriously and have made it a brand

attitude for their product. Looking at the RXBAR YouTube channel, there is an advertisement

from October 4th, 2018, that really shows this idea. In the advertisement, the slogan “No B.S.” is

in bold white letters with a plain black background with their Chocolate Sea Salt flavor bar next

to it (RXBAR Words in a Commercial, 2018). This alone provides the point that they are just

trying to show you the product and not give the audience a big, elaborate advertisement to try

and sell the product. However, the brand takes the advertisement even farther by having actor

and rapper Ice-T, pop out from behind the bar and simply state “Buy a chocolate sea salt

RXBAR, or not, whatever, I’m just saying some words in a commercial” and closes the door

(RXBAR Words in a Commercial, 2018). This furthers the point that the brand is not trying to be
over the top and are simply a good bar for an individual to have as a snack and/or treat. The

advertisement also shows that the brand is confident in their product and creates a different type

of trust with the audience. They continue this campaign even recently. In an advertisement from

October 7th, 2022, 4 years later, they still use the “No B.S.” slogan. However, instead of having

just a plain background, they have an individual walking on a sidewalk, where one of her

headphones falls out and is run over by a vehicle, with a voiceover stating, “mornings are full of

B.S.”, after the individual takes a seat on a bench and takes a bite of her RXBAR (New RXBAR

A.M. is Perfect for Mornings, Even if Your Morning isn't Going Perfectly, 2022). Here they are

advertising a new product that is meant to be a morning snack and the brand is trying to

communicate with the audience that even the mornings are full of B.S., their product is not. This

is also relayed directly in the advertisement with the voiceover continuing to state “RXBAR

A.M. is not” giving the audience a sense of trust again with the brand/product that they are

simply a great option for a on the go snack/treat (New RXBAR A.M. is Perfect for Mornings,

Even if Your Morning isn't Going Perfectly, 2022). Overall, the audience is most likely targeted

to the individuals who are mainly looking for a healthy and tasty bar that is packed with

unnecessary ingredients. In the first advertisement, the audience may be more targeted towards

the type of individuals who work out, have a more healthy, clean lifestyle. In the second

advertisement explained, the advertisement is more focused towards individuals who are on the

go, such as new and busy working professionals and students.

Prompt 7: Defining Marketing

All the Fortune 500 companies have their own campaigns and their own brands, but for

this example, I will be looking at the campaigns and brand of Apple. When looking at the Apple

website, at the very bottom of the page there is a link that is titled “Apple Values”, with sub links
that state “Accessibility”, “Education”, “Environment”, “Inclusion and Diversity”, “Privacy”,

“Racial Equity and Justice”, and “Supplier Responsibility” which is a key indicator in which

Apple strives for as a brand (Apple - a). By looking at these sub links, we can see what Apple as

a brand strives for and what they are passionate about, we would also expect the company to

incorporate these values into the campaigns. One the most famous Apple campaigns was the

“Shot on iPhone” campaign, which many people saw commercials for and sponsored posts

throughout social media. In this campaign, Apple is making the audience aware of the camera

abilities of the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, asking the users to “capture the little

things, in a big way”, even creating a challenge for those users to post their pictures to be judged,

where Apple will announce winners, increasing the likelihood of seeing this campaign (Share

Your Best iPhone Macro Photos for Apple's Shot on iPhone Challenge, 2022). This campaign

integrates the values of the Apple brand, creating a creative space for all users. When looking at

the “Newsroom” subsection of the Apple page, it is clear that the company is passionate about

education and diversity, among the other values, with many press releases surrounding those

topics, but also releasing information regarding their quarterly reports for shareholders (Apple -

b). Overall, the company incorporates their brand values, into their campaigns, however where

they differ is in how they give that information. For the brand values, they are simply stated, and

they are more in depth about how Apple creates their products for each of their value topics,

while in their campaigns, it is mainly talking about the product and PR moves, such as the press

releases, where the values are more so implied.

Prompt 8: Media Alerts

For this prompt I decided to look at a nonprofit organization called Honor the Earth. This

nonprofit is working towards creating support for Native environmental issues, as well as,
developing resources, financially and politically, for the survival of sustainable Native

communities (Mission + Vision). When looking through their website, they are actively releasing

information and that they are clear about the initiatives that they are taking. They offer a place

for the average reader and individuals interested in the nonprofit, titled “News” which gives then

a sense of not only the nonprofits goals, but also a look into what they support as well as updates

from the organization. For example, there is an article from the new executive director, Krystal

Two Bulls, with a visual image of her holding up her hand and a quote from the message that

was posted (Two Bulls, 2023). This gives the audience a personal sense with the organization by

hearing from the executive director, but then also adding a photo of her to help put a face to the

words of the message. Another example from the “News” section is a flyer about a festival they

have organized. One of the main ways the nonprofit organization raises awareness and develops

their resources is through festivals, which allows their audience to come and join them, including

everyday people, donators, etc. The flyers states “WATER IS LIFE” with the date and time of the

festival, price of tickets, and a list of performers, among other information such as the cause for

the festival, the flyer also includes a variety of visual effects, such as an Indigenous women

sitting in the front with landscape of a dessert behind her (LittleRedfeather, 2023). Overall, the

organization uses media alerts well and has a variety of releases/articles for their audience to read

and get to know the company as well as the efforts and opinions for the causes they are fighting

for.
 References

Apple. (2022, January 25). Share Your Best iPhone Macro Photos for Apple’s Shot on iPhone

Challenge. Apple Newsroom. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/01/share-your-best-

iphone-macro-photos-for-apples-shot-on-iphone-challenge/

Apple. (n.d.). Apple. https://www.apple.com/

Apple. (n.d.-b). Newsroom. Apple Newsroom. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/

Honor the Earth. (n.d.). Mission + Vision. Honor The Earth. https://honorearth.org/mission-

vision

LittleRedfeather, S. (2023, February 17). Water is Life Southwest Music + Resistance Festival.

Honor The Earth. https://honorearth.org/news/waterislife-southwest

Red Bull Energy Drink - Official Website. (n.d.). https://www.redbull.com/us-en/energydrink

RXBAR. (2018, October 4). RXBAR Words in a Commercial. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PJhqx8dB4Q

RXBAR. (2022, October 7). New RXBAR A.M. is Perfect for Mornings, Even if Your Morning

isn’t Going Perfectly. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjZtBGJcarw

RXBAR: No B.S. Wieden + Kennedy. (2018, August). https://www.wk.com/work/rxbar-no-b-s/

The Coca-Cola Company. (2023, April 24). Coca-Cola Reports First Quarter 2023 Results. The

Coca-Cola Company. https://investors.coca-colacompany.com/news-events/press-

releases/detail/1081/coca-cola-reports-first-quarter-2023-results

Trailer Tube. (2014, February 2). Coca Cola Super Bowl Commercial 2014 “Going all the

Way.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO-8ZY7p95o

Two Bulls, K. (2023, April 27). A Message from Honor the Earth’s New Executive Director,

Krystal Two Bulls. Honor The Earth. https://honorearth.org/news/a-message-from-honor-

the-earths-new-executive-director-krystal-two-bulls