Label Text:
Other than the flag, few things are more closely associated with American cultural identity than Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company has, since its creation, invoked traditional American ideals and promoted its beverage as wholesome, refreshing, and patriotic. One of Coca-Cola’s most beloved advertising creations was the “Coca-Cola girl,” who took the form of a number of different beautiful women with Cokes in hand and who represented “The American Girl.”
In Liebling’s photograph, the Coca-Cola logo behind the girl appears to embrace her, conjuring associations with safe, happy American families. While it may be interpreted as a comforting presence, the sign may also be read as a symbol of an unfamiliar, perhaps antagonistic, environment. Liebling took this photograph on the West Side of Saint Paul, Minnesota—at the time, an area with a diverse population of recent immigrant families—and Liebling’s subject appears to be Hispanic. Coca-Cola ads of that era predominantly featured Caucasian people. This photograph of a different kind of “Coca-Cola girl” suggests that the relationship between Coca-Cola and an American identity is not as monolithic as the advertisements indicate, undercutting Coca-Cola’s claim to quintessentially represent America.
MD, PHOTOdocument exhibition, March 30, 2012-July 22, 2012
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+2001.672.3 |
