In the music video, the performers urge Mexicans to get up and move while simultaneously carrying out a choreographed dance routine that viewers can learn and practise. The advertisement was released on the 10th of April 2014 via YouTube for its target audience, Mexican families, to view. 

BTS has an extremely large and powerful fanbase, known as ARMY. Using BTS as their new brand ambassador quickly opened the door to the non Asian market, with ARMYs all around the world causing the phrase “cider poster” to be #1 trending on Twitter. All of the limited edition Chilsung Cider X BTS products, including a BTS miniature set, Chilsung Cider perfumes, and calendar sold out in 10 minutes. 

The Kpop industry is distinct from the Western music industry in that it emphasises the slow relationship building between the idols and the fans, requiring the idols to interact with their fans as often as possible in order to demonstrate their personalities, likes, preferences, talents that aren’t necessarily related to their main jobs as musical artists. The way this industry is designed is likely also due to the culture being HC, but it still has become popular around the world, even in LC cultures like in the US.

An individualist society is one that has concerns over themselves as individuals and close family members. The values that people within an individualist society have respect for include accomplishment and acknowledgement (McCarty & Hattwick). In contrast, those who conform to a collectivist society respect values such as family, reliability and a portrayal of traditional social norms (Hofstede). 

A low score of 30 indicates that Mexico can be viewed as a collectivist society. In Mexican culture, long-term and secure relationships between close or extended family and strong friendships are extremely important. Everyone belongs to a group, and individuals within each group take care of each other (Hofstede). Having analysed the Mexican Coca-Cola advertisement, it is clear that it makes use of these values. The lyrics continuously use the first person plural “we” and mentions family members moving together; “The big one moves, the small one moves, The father moves, the son moves”. The wording appeals to Mexican principals by attempting to get them to engage as a collective.

South Korea scores even lower, with 18 in the Individualism sector. The collectivistic influence manifests itself in demonstrating a group of people rather than single individuals, being more physically active, and interacting with each other (Wurtz). The Chilsung Cider ad features all seven members of BTS socialising, dancing, having fun, and enjoying the cider together as a group. This, therefore, creates a positive emotional connection between drinking the cider and spending time together with a group of friends. The appeal to group connection and mutual enjoyment of the cider is even demonstrated in the short clips made by each member of BTS on their own. Even though they are alone in the video, and each of their short actions reflect their individual personalities or roles within the group, they all say, “BTS is looking forward to it; Chilsung Cider!”. Therefore, reinforcing the group mentality. 

Furthermore, the Mexican Coca-Cola advertisement creates interdependence between people for movement by saying, “If you move, I move, And so we all do”. According to Gregory and Munch (99-119), members within a collectivist culture often feel motivated to act in a way that is in line with the expectations of a group they are a part of. 

In stark contrast to Mexico’s and South Korea’s collective societies, the United States scores a ‘91’ in individualism. This would suggest that people in the United States have tendencies to look after themselves and their immediate family (Hofstede). The Pepsi advertisement reflects this in that the centrepiece is a single famous individual, Kendall Jenner, who is not shown to have any meaningful connections with the people around her, nor mention of one. The story portrayed shows a single, powerful individual having an impact. This differs significantly from the Mexican Coca-Cola advertisement where three artists invite viewers to join them in dance, and we are shown clips of people from different backgrounds participating.  

Mexico’s low score of ‘24’ in the Long-Term Orientation dimension indicates that as a society, they are normative. People of Mexican culture display strong appreciation and respect for past customs while also living in the present moment to reach instantaneous results (Hofstede). This is evident in the Coca-Cola Mexican advertisement as the lyrics continuously make reference to living life in the present but through dancing, keeping the element of past traditions there; “It’s time to live with passion. Come since your part of the movement. With Coca-Cola live in the moment”, “Let’s all dance together because life is good”. 

On the other hand, the United States is regarded as a Low-Context culture. However, the Pepsi advertisement uses features of non-verbal communication, which is typically seen in High-Context cultures. Here the Pepsi advertisement differs from the cultural expectations, which likely affected the response the advertisement received. 

Mexico can be considered an extremely High-Context nation with a score of 13 on a 16 point High/Low-Context scale (Van Everdingen). As stated above, relevant to this advertisement are the High-Context features; team and relationship-oriented, team achievement-focused, and deep respect for the past (Schmalz). The ad takes a team-oriented approach in attempting to convince Mexican people to increase their physical activity levels. The artists are working together as a team to deliver this message, and furthermore, the viewers are invited to become members of this team, in a sense. Another part of the ad is the focus on increased movement as a significant achievement for Mexico as a whole: “Today together we can achieve it”. Mexico’s deep respect for the past is conveyed in the medium, dance, used to communicate by the ad. Dance is an integral part of Mexican tradition. Coca-Cola Mexico uses a song and dance to appeal to the Mexican people and the deep-rooted respect they hold for their own culture and traditions. Hence this ad and movement were received well among the Mexican population.

A central element of High-Context cultures is that messages are predominantly delivered implicitly. Despite this, the Coca-Cola Mexican advertisement delivers its message explicitly in the form of a song. Although this might contradict the High-Context description, music is significantly tied to Mexican culture, so the use of lyrics has a rationale. The circumstances behind an advertisement are also relevant. Coca-Cola designed this commercial to be part of a campaign looking to battle obesity in Mexico, and verbal communication would have been the easiest way to do this. 

The Chilsung Cider ad demonstrates another High-Context influence, using Wurtz’s analysis for ICC website design and advertising. The preference for implicit and nonverbal communication results in a heavier reliance on images, elaborate animated effects, and fewer words. The Chilsung Cider ad utilises many vibrant, flashy colours, with sound effects, using the imagery of enlarged animated fruits that reference the signature flavours of the drinks. The few written and spoken words are all about enjoying the taste, in particular of the new flavour and the brand name. Furthermore, a result from Wurtz’s study demonstrates that high context ads are also more likely to display the product and individual together, therefore “drawing focus away from what the product offers and towards what the person receives when enjoying the product” (Wurtz, 289). This is applied to the Chilsung Cider ad, which does show BTS drinking the beverage, but the focus is on their positive reactions, both in the ad itself and the behind the scenes. 

In contrast, the United States is considered to have a Low-Context culture where verbal messages are preferred. Despite this, the Pepsi advertisement has many High-Context traits and remains non-verbal throughout. The entire plot is communicated through implicit cultural understanding and body language. Perhaps this contributed to the poor reaction it received and its later removal. 

On the other hand, once compared to the Chilsung Cider advertisement, the United States is much more Low-Context, especially on the relationship-building front (Bai). Both Pepsi and Chilsung use celebrity stars; however, their presence differs vastly in the advertisements. Chilsung focuses much more on BTS as people, each of them having a sequence where they are introduced, and their name appears on the screen. There is also a lot of available behind the scenes footage from the Chilsung advertisement where you see the BTS members interacting with each other. It seems there is much more of an emphasis on the relationship between the celebrities and the fans viewing the advertisement, which matches well with the High-Context culture of South Korea. The advertisement represents a relationship between BTS and their fans as a way of building trust. This trust can be demonstrated in some of the fan responses to the making film. Many of the top comments on the YouTube uploaded advertisement were fans expressing their concern for the well-being of one of the members, Suga, whose arm was in pain during the filming for the ad. After discovering this information from other social platforms, Fans returned to the ad and praised his professionalism. 

In comparison, Kendall Jenner is never mentioned by name during the Pepsi advertisement, nor does she interact with the viewers in the same way as BTS in the Chilsung advertisement. The goal of the Pepsi advertisement seems to be sending an overall message rather than creating ethos through interactions. Not only does this contrast fit well with the High/Low-Context framework, it also plays into Hofstede’s framework for individualist and collectivist societies. At the end of the advertisement, it is only Kendall Jenner who walks up and hands a police officer a Pepsi. This action reflects the individualist culture in America, as the advertisement is focused on the single main actress rather than a unified action by multiple people. Although Pepsi claimed their advertisement is about unity, the people within the advertisement are fairly isolated from each other.

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