“COCA-COLA CALLS ON THE WORLD TO STEER GENERATIVE Ai PLATFORMS TOWARD PEACE, HAPPINESS AND LOVE.” {Culture Shaping}
What if a superpower brand such as Coca-Cola, with its legacy of promoting peace, joy and happiness, were to leverage, deepen and modernize such intentions for today? Specifically, because we are already ensconced in a new era where artificial intelligence is shaping society and culture along with us, might Coca-Cola embark upon a campaign encouraging us to teach Ai itself about “peace marketing”? Would it work? We don’t know. But it is clear that generative A.I. platforms can be “steered” a bit. Check out these screen grabs from a 20-minute “dialogue” with ChatGTP. We start by asking GTP if users can “train” it. GTP says no, but clarifies that indeed one can provide more information, ask follow-up questions and let it know about patterns in its responses so it can adjust its answers. (*Below that, we’ll explain why Ideas for Animals is putting out such a seemingly “indirect idea” as this, when its focus seems to be more directly tied to animal welfare.)
We then ask GTP if it thinks that “Coca-Cola could teach the world to be more peaceful.” As you can see here, at first it responds saying that it’s “unlikely,” but then goes on to say that companies “can contribute to peace” in certain ways.
We then bring up the classic 1971 Coke advertisement known as “Hilltop.” Here’s what it has to say about that.
With that concept now entered into the mix, we ask GTP what it thinks would happen if more companies were to band together and “put out messages like that ad.” It’s fascinating how it begins to take a turn, citing that if that were to happen, it could collectively help to “create a cultural shift…” and “inspire individuals and communities to take action toward a more peaceful and harmonious world.” Wow. Then it cautions that it takes more than that, and that “companies… are ultimately profit-driven” and “any efforts to promote social responsibility… must be balanced against their ‘primary goal of generating profits’…”
Finally, we ask what it thinks would happen if the Coca-Cola shareholders agreed that peace would be more important than profit and shift its focus toward ‘mass benefit.’ Check out what it says to this. Fascinating.
What this little experiment “proves,” to us at least, is that by engaging with generative Ai, it seems possible to steer the discussion and influence its “opinions” or “responses.” We wonder what an innovative company built on a brand persona of “peace and happiness” might be able to do if it were to encourage society to do this. Might doing so ensure that the future is peaceful too? Even from this short experiment with ChatGTP, the dialogue evolved from “it is unlikely that a company, including the Coca-Cola company, can teach the world how to be more peaceful directly,” to “there are examples of companies that have shown it is possible to generate both financial returns and positive social outcomes.” Who knows what might happen if we collectively ensure that AI is focused on the potential for peace? And might a brand with peace in its foundational pillars experiment with such things?
*But why would IFA promote an idea such as this?
Yes, we realize that The Coca-Cola Company is not vegan, nor is it known to promote animal rights. Coca-Cola even owns Fairlife, and the dairy industry seems to be a giant problem for animals, human health and the planet.
Still, we believe Coca-Cola as a company has the potential to transcend these disconnects and do more good than harm.
Not because Coca Cola Company is one of the 10 largest companies on the planet, or the world’s largest beverage company. But because Coca-Cola has a brand-messaging legacy that encourages peace and happiness. To this day they are consistently focused on embracing “magic,” and “happiness.” At Ideas for Animals, we feel one of the most effective ways (if not the best way) to help innocent non-human animals is to encourage human animals to prioritize inner peace and kind regard for all beings. One could even argue that such focus is the only thing that can really “change the world.” We believe that once we understand and put into practice the awareness of our true connection to all beings (and that consuming/exploiting them is not necessary for our vitality), we are less likely to engage in “violent consumerism.”
Plus, get a load of this:
We believe certain brands have the potential to do what no one ever thought a brand could do: Teach world peace as a true social leader.
Brands? Really? Absolutely. If helmed by people who understand their great communication budgets also wield the potential for fantastic influence as a force for good, we believe that brands such as Coca-Cola can literally teach us how to unite. They can normalize the most important learnings at the level of popular culture, not just in spiritual communities or glossed over as part of the spiritually material “#WOKE” thing. We believe brands have the potential to deliver such consistent teachings and messages. It would take a very special brand to do this. A big one. A brave one. One like Coca-Cola. All one need do is take a quick walk through their marketing history, and you’ll see they’ve been promoting such teachings for a long time. Maybe not at a deeply transformative level, but so what? They occupy this landscape already. They’re huge. They have power. And right now, as we enter into a whole new era of deep technology, we want to help Coca-Cola see their potential, and use ideas and technology to go beyond slogans, and to literally heal the world. Really. Why NOT? Perhaps they’re way ahead of us. After all, Coca Cola is helmed by the world’s most savvy marketers and leaders. But maybe they’re not really seeing how much good they can really do to change minds and change the world. And perhaps we at IFA can help them see a deeper potential here. One that the world needs now more than ever. To truly bring deep peace, tolerance and forgiveness to the mainstream. Sure, we can question how “deep” Coca-Cola may want to go on these eternal concepts. But the point is, they put them out there. Peace. Happiness. Love. And they’ve been pushing these concepts for well over 50 years. If not longer.