Abstract

This study examined the unification appeals, cultural artifacts, and other musical rhetoric strategies contained in K’naan and Coca-Cola’s “Wavin’ Flag” campaign. This was accomplished by analyzing the Spanish, Greek, and Thai remixes of K’naan’s song, “Wavin’ Flag.” The three versions studied are 3-4 minute long advertisements in the form of music videos. The study employed a methodology of narrative criticism to rhetorically analyze the instrumentation, lyrics, and video of each of the three versions. The findings were synthesized, and the study identified the principal methods by which the versions imparted the campaign’s core messages in each individual culture it targeted, as well as overall. It was found that the values most emphasized in the campaign’s overarching narrative included spontaneity, national pride, vibrancy, and confidence. By highlighting the methods used in Coca-Cola’s extremely successful campaign, the study contributed to the scholarship in the field of musical rhetoric. The findings of the study can help not only with musical advertising in the same vein as the “Wavin’ Flag” campaign, but with musical education, protest rallies, and other fields that make use of musical rhetoric.

Advisor

Johnson, Michelle

Department

Communication Studies

Disciplines

Broadcast and Video Studies | Critical and Cultural Studies | International and Intercultural Communication | Mass Communication | Speech and Rhetorical Studies

Publication Date

2014

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 2014 Dustin W. Kemp