Last week, on the 30th January, José Salvdor Alvarenga was found washed up in a small fibreglass boat on the shores of Marshall Island. The castaway claimed to have been drifting across the ocean since September 2012 after setting out from Mexico.
How amazing! Its like some sort of miracle! Like The Life of Pi but in real life!
When pictures emerged of the man, I was a little surprised to say the least... He didn't look overly under-groomed and definitely didn't look under weight... He didn't look blistered from the sun or dizzy from the waves. I won't lie, I was expecting him to look a little bit more "Pirates of the Caribbean." I was hoping for a non-fictional Jack Sparrow,
The pictures of the survivor showed him being helped off of a police patrol boat. The bearded man smiling and waving, clutching a can of coke.
Invaluable PR for Coca-Cola! Even though Alvarenga's hand is covering the instantly recognisable logo, and Coca-Cola font, the red can of Coke is easily identifiable. A castaway, after a said 16 months at sea, drinking just "turtle blood" and his "own urine", takes his first steps on mainland grasping a can of legendary Coca-Cola. Maybe I'm looking into this a little too much, but I can't help thinking this may have been posed? Was this a planned publicity stunt by Coca-Cola? Or did the man just fulfill a year and a half craving for a can of full-fat-fizzy-sugar?
Either way, these pictures demonstrate how branding can enter the public consciousness. Now Alvarenga has survived his ordeal, providing Coca-Cola with indispensable publicity, he is surely entitled to a life's supply of free Cokes?!
An amazing story, regardless of the Coke can!
Love♥
Well whatever it was publicity or deranged Hagrid pirate ,coca-colas winning because after reading this all I can think about is how much I fancy an ice cold glass of coke...again brilliantly written xoxo
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