Americanization of Russia: A Study of the Advertising Strategies of Coca-Cola and McDonald's in Russian Videos

Abstract

In this research, I examine selected commercial videos promoting the American corporations Coca-Cola and McDonald's in the Russian market over the period 2007-2010. Proceeding on the assumption that the selected videos are typical TV commercials utilized by these two companies in the Russian market, my major goal is to determine the ways in which the ads attempt to make the given products appealing to Russian consumers. I found that the video ads of these two corporations revealed a strategy aimed at avoiding negative attitudes against the products (and their potential profits) because of their strong identification with America and everything that America might represent to Russian consumers. This challenge is complicated because a segment of the potential market, principally young people, undoubtedly would not mind an association with American values and would generally respond favorably to American and broad cosmopolitan (foreign, non-Russian) interests. Moreover, creating ads with exclusively Russian themes (for example, from folklore) could potentially reach customers in other segments of the population less enamored of American products. The challenge facing both companies was to make a foreign product acceptable and appealing to a Russian market. The strategies they used to do this are worth examining for the sake of obtaining insights into successful advertising campaigns in Russia in particular and in foreign cultures in general. Analyses will yield conclusions that may be useful to psychologists, linguists, cultural historians and members of other disciplines involved in advertising design and business strategies.