Analysis Of Coca Cola And Grove Press By Richard Seaver

In today’s competitive market, companies rely on unique advertising slogans to market their product. Company slogans and trademarks have increased in popularity over the years. However, it sometimes becomes a challenging task to determine who has the right to a certain phrase. Such is the case evident in the exchange of letters between Mr. Herbert of Coca-Cola company and Mr. Seaver of Grove Press. Apparently, both companies utilize the slogan, “It’s the Real Thing,” to advertise their products causing a conflict regarding who has the rights to that slogan. Although Mr. Herbert of Coca-Cola delivered a professional and respectful sound and cordial argument using historical data, ethos, and logos to describe his points concerning the dual use of the slogan, Mr. Seaver thoroughly refuted his letter piece by piece in an ironic, sarcastic, and clever

Companies desire to keep the originality of their products so they can appeal to their consumers positively. Ira C. Herbert, an executive for the Coca Cola Company, presents himself as a notable person with authority. On March 25, 1970, Herbert wrote a letter to Mr. R. W. Seaver asking him to “stop using the theme or slogan in connection with the book” (line 7). The writer is contemplative throughout his letter in order to clarify the issue that he wants resolved. Herbert speaks for the company when he writes, “We believe you will agree that it is undesirable for our companies to make simultaneous use of It’s the Real Thing” in connection with our respective products”(lines 8-10). In other words, the author suggests the expression

Within society power struggles are inevitable and in the business world it is no different. The letters of correspondence between an executive of the Coca-Cola Company, Ira C. Herbert and a representative of Grove Press, Richard Seaver express their different viewpoints on the use of Coca-Cola’s slogan “It’s the Real Thing”, in an advertisement promoting Diary of a Harlem Schoolteacher by Jim Haskins. Both Herbert and Seaver attempt to out smart each other through their use of rhetorical techniques and strategies.

In the reading Advertisements R Us, Melissa Rubin expands upon her analysis of Coca-Colas’ 1950 magazine advertisement, and brings many points to light about how the company uses cleverly crafted advertising tactics to appeal to a specific group of Americans. By clearly communicating her evidence to back up the analysis of the advertisement, Ruben composes a thoughtful and persuasive paper. For example, Rubin explains how simple details, such as the use of their slogan on the vending machine pictured which reads “Drink Coca-Cola - Work Refreshed”, and the placement of “Sprite Boy” in the ad, all work together to send a message that makes consumers want to buy their product. Consequently, because of the evidence presented in her writing, Rubin has crafted a paper that I find logical and persuasive.

Historical illusions are also being employed in this letter as a form of a rhetorical strategy; it is used in the fourth paragraph just like in the first letter but the only difference is that this time Seaver is telling Mr. Ira Herbert about other cases his company has had in past that were just like this one but posed more of a threat to his company, rather than the history of the slogan “it’s the real thing”. Reduction which means the degradation of a victim is being brought into play by Mr. Seaver in the third paragraph of the letter where Seaver states, “we have discussed this problem in an executive committee meeting, and by a vote of seven to six decided that, even if this were the case , we would be happy to give coke the residual benefit of our advertising”, here Seaver is actually demeaning the stature and dignity of the Coca-Cola company because he is practically saying that if it’s the money coke wants, they would be glad to offer coke the money. A hyperbole is displayed in the concluding part of the letter that says “we will defend to the death your right to use “it’s the real thing” in any advertising you care to”, at this point Mr. Seaver is saying that he and his company are ready to defend to death

Herbert, a coca cola executive uses appeal to logic and historical context to convince Seaver, the author of the book “Diary of a Harlem Schoolteacher” to change their slogan “It's the real thing” used by both companies to advertise their products.Seaver replies with references, hyperbole, and sarcasm to state that they aren't changing the books slogan. They both were trying to appeal to their audience, the people who buy Coca-Cola and the book. Whereas Herbert’s letter addressing the issue of both companies using the same slogan. Seavers response is more persuasive due to its use of rhetorical strategies such as references and sarcasm.The letters were made to persuade the audience the who has the right over the slogan that coca-cola used

Ira C. Herbert, an executive of the Coca-Cola company, and Richard Seavers, a representative of Grove Press, are the speakers of their own respective letters and they both focus on the motto “It’s the real thing”. Herbert’s purpose is to convince Seavers to stop using the motto “It’s the real thing” and to use a different one and Seavers purpose is to address Herbert’s concerns about the motto and defends his company’s right to keep using the motto. Herbert adopts a friendly tone in order to point out what Seaver was doing, using the same slogan Coca-Cola uses. Seaver adopts a serious tone to guide Herbert what had happened to Herbert and the company of Coca-Cola. Herbert and Seaver use different rhetorical strategies in order to persuade

In the following letters exchanged between the executive vice-president of Coca-Cola and the representative of Grove Press regarding the use of the slogan, “It’s the Real Thing”, each writer states their stance on why they believe they are have the right to use this slogan for their company. Coca-Cola’s executive vice-president, Ira Herbert, writes in a deliberate tone while also incorporating specific dates, and attempting to spark patriotism in his claim. Richard Seaver of Grove Press, justifies his company has done nothing wrong; however, claims that it will do as Coca-Cola ask. By using sarcasm and specific examples, Grove Press achieves their purpose and sequentially demonstrates why they have a more persuasive case over Coca-Cola.

You would not believe by the amount of people who would confuse a book for a can of Coca-Cola believing that it is the real thing. Herbert, a Coca-Cola executive, and Seaver, execute vice president of Grove Press, Incorporated were involved in a formal discussion regarding the use of the slogan “It’s real thing”. He believes the slogan rightfully belongs to the Cola company, however Seaver contradict Herbert’s claim stating both companies can make use of the slogan. A formal letter sent to Grove Press explains the concerns that the Cola Company has over the publishing company’s use over the slogan. The response, made by Seaver, is written in a sarcastic tone and elaborates why the slogan is free to be used for the book’s publishing. Whereas Herbert’s letter was well written in explaining the proposal Coca-Cola has given the publishers for changing their slogan, Seaver’s response is more persuasive due to its ability to successfully use satire to discredit the Coca-Cola company’s absurd claim that people will confuse a novel for a can of cola.

The first narrative that he creates in his letter in the narrative that the quote “It’s the Real Thing” belongs to Coca-Cola. Herbert employs the use of logos in his rhetoric, stating that because Coca-Cola used it first in advertising, the quote belongs to them. He states, “‘It’s the Real Thing’ was first used in advertising for Coca-Cola over twenty-seven years ago to refer to our product.” In fact, the entire fourth paragraph was just Herbert employing logos to push his narrative. Another narrative that Herbert pushes for is the narrative that companies should not share advertising slogans due to the confusion and mix-up of two different products. In the third paragraph, Herbert employs gloomy and negative diction such as “undesirable”, “confusion”, “dilute”, and “diminish” to try to convince Seaver and Grove Press that sharing slogans is unacceptable and will hurt the success of both companies. By combining these two narratives, Herbert successfully makes a case for Grove Press to stop using the quote, “It’s the real thing” in their

To continue, Seaver uses irony in order to not create a rude or as harsh of a tone when responding to the letter by Herbert. Seaver use of irony establishes the point that it is not important if both companies use the same set of words in an advertisement. Seaver gets his point across by using sarcasm such as referring and stating that the use of the same set of words would benefit the sale of Coca-Cola bottles. The quote given to defend their use of the set of the words is “but, it did occur to us that since the slogan is so …buy a Coke rather than a book” (14-17). Seaver uses this quote in order to defend his usage of the slogan “it's a real thing” despite it being previously owned by the Coca-Cola company. When Seaver claims that the phrase would rather improve the economic gain of the Coca-Cola company rather than reduce it. Seaver then continues to explain that when a customer sees this quote they will crave a coke and this will increase its profits. Although, when Seaver argues this he creates a sarcastic tone to state that the Coca-Cola company was being overdramatic with this advertising issue. When Seaver connects his argument to the belief that the Coca-Cola company

Does the childish logic of having done it first mean you have the right to it work in the real, business world? According to Coca-Cola USA, the slogans they use during their advertising campaigns are to be used solely by them. Herbert, a representative from Coca-Cola USA, informs the Grove Press that they had used their slogan in one of their advertisements for a book. Seaver, Executive Vice President of the Grove Press, does not agree with Coca-Cola’s terms and claim they were merely quoting a book critic for the advertisement. He addresses all of Herbert's claims while also adding a sense of sarcasm. Seaver presents a stronger letter with the use a sarcasm and countering all of Herbert’s claims while Herbert merely establishes authority and uses weak logic as his backup.

The multinational company that I have chosen is Coca Cola Company since it is a very popular brand and has been serving its customers for more then 10 decades and even after so many years its popularity seems to be increasing day by day which itself speaks about the company's remarkable performance. The Coca Cola Company is an American multinational corporation and manufacturer, retailer and marketer of the nonalcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups (Wright, 1999). It came into existence in 1886 and was invented in Columbus, Georgia by John Stith Pemberton. The current statistics of the company shows that it is currently operating in over 200 countries offering its customers over 500 brands with each day serving of more then 1.7 billion (Charles W. L. Hill, Essentials of Strategic Management, 2012). .Further more the Coca Cola Company is alone responsible for the 78% of the total gallon sales of all the beverages sold worldwide. The company is listed in New York Sock Exchange and is very popular in most of the countries especially United States of America, which alone consumes 47% of the total gallons, sold worldwide (Zurkuhlen & Meeker, 1987). The company headquarter is located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America and its current chief executive and chairman is Muhtar Kent (Charles W. L. Hill, Strategic Management Theory: An Integrated Approach, 2012).

The history of Coca Cola began in 1886 when Dr. John S Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist created a tasty soft drink which could sell at soda fountains. Since then, Coca Cola grew to be a global brand and touched great heights. Today, it sells across 200 countries and is just as popular across all the markets and nations. The company today, owns or licenses and markets more than 500 non alcoholic beverage brands. The brand has only few major competitors in the global market. The daily servings of coca cola are estimated to be at 1.9 billion globally. (Coca-Colahellenic, n.d.) This is just another proof of the popularity of the brand which has a very large and diversified

Over 3500 products are available in more than 200 countries (The Coca Cola Company, 2013).