A Bottle of Coke

Term Paper # 103469

Business > Consumer Behavior
Philosophy
Sociology

A Bottle of Coke

This paper focuses on the Coke bottle to highlight the important role of material artifacts in our lives.

2,651 words () | 6 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper examines the Coke bottle, with specific reference to its status as a global meta-commodity or meta-symbol. The paper explores how material artifacts provide valuable insights into what is important to a culture. The paper analyzes the film "The Gods Must be Crazy", which illustrates how even the most powerful meta-symbol is powerful only because of its connotations and associations. The paper concludes by emphasizing how material artifacts affect our lives.

From the Paper:

"The Coke bottle is one of the most recognizable material artefacts in the world. Its shape and distinctive label is recognized globally. For some it evokes warm, fuzzy feelings, and for others it invokes a paroxysm of anti-capitalist or anti-American feelings. It may evoke arguments about art vs. commodities, or about West vs. Islam. In the USA, your attitude to the bottle may depend on which side of the colour divide you fall on. Love it or hate it, it is unquestionably an important aspect of contemporary material culture."

Sample of Sources Used:

Bingkewl web site. Graphics. Retrieved from bingkewl.podomatic.com/2006-10-06T11_37_21-07...352 x 264 - 60k
Enotes.com. Graphics. Retrieved from arts.enotes.com/.../gods-must-be-crazy-i_001.jpg
Buchli, Victor, ed. The Material Culture Reader. New York: Berg, 2002.
Miller, Daniel. "Coca-Cola: A Black Sweet Drink from Trinidad. The Material Culture Reader. Ed. Victor Buchli. New York: Berg, 2002: 245-262.
Reelfilm.com. Graphics. Retrieved from www.reelfilm.com/images/gods1.jpg