Friday, March 25, 2011

What the Pickin' Heck was Coke Thinking In Southern Rural Utah?

I stood in the late 50's diner in Richfield, Utah and had my camera ready to take a picture of the lady that had taken our order at the counter. I didn't want her to see me take a picture of her. No, I wasn't going to post her on my blog. She had this standie-up hair just like the first season of Kate Gosselin's first few episodes of "Kate Plus Eight" on Reality TV.

Everyone in Richfield has this hairdo....Oh, I know there are some of you that don't have this hairdo. Tell me there has to be someone that has their own style. Oh DANG! There are even a bunch of Salina women that have this hairdo, too. Why is this Prairie Chicken Style so popular? It's crooked hair with feathers in the back are not pretty. We laughed because we couldn't even find one lady in the Richfield Walmart that didn't have this hairdo.
Okay...Change Gears
 My reason for taking the picture was to send my son, Dustin, a girl's picture from Utah. "Here's a girl friend for ya', Dustin!" He would've loved it. Not. California Beach Guys don't go for funny hair-dos like this. All hair-sprayed and heavy duty gel-spiky! I really didn't take the picture because I saw something that just made me gasp, "No, Steve...look!" I don't like Coca Cola and I'm thinking this advertising campaign probably was somewhat successful. If I saw 4-H on a Coke bottle, honestly I may have drank it as a kid, thinking "that kind" of Coke was probably okay for me. Quote from the 4-H Internet Home Page:  "National 4-H Curriculum focuses on 4-H’s three primary mission mandates: science, healthy living, and citizenship."


I saw this memorabilia collection of the 1960's on this shelf above my head and there was a bottle of 4-H. My kids were all 4-H members and we didn't remember a 4-H drink for us. I was in 4-H throughout the 60's and  never saw a bottle like that. Steve looked closer at it with our new camera and we thought it was crazy. Really crazy. It was Coca Cola or Coke.  Mormons or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of  Latter-day Saints didn't drink Coke or Pepsi in Utah. More do now and occasionally most members have a Coke or Pepsi but, back then, it was "taboo" like coffee and tea. We just limit it now, because of all the caffeine in the drinks. I guess Mountain Dew is especially filled with caffeine and probably right now on the "taboo list" I know if we were to deny caffeine completely there wouldn't even be regular aspirin in our lives and even chocolate would be on the "bad" list. Was the Coke Company back in the 1960's using the 4-H logo to lure the young people in the rural area of Utah, to make something they avoided "look okay" because it didn't look like Coke? Maybe advertisers thought that it could trick them to think it wasn't "really" Coke because it said 4-H on the label. I'm anxious to know the answer to this. How deceitful? Really? Makes me upset that a huge company was trying to make our dear young members of the Church think Coke was okay because it had a different name.
4-H is sponsored by each state's university system called the cooperative extension service and other government agencies, to help children and young adults to "to make the best better" and the "Head" "Heart" "Hands" and "Health" are the four leaves to clover logo. The club teaches good  citizenship, leadership, specific skills in areas of children and young adults interest and caring leaders (yes, usually parents) to teach the projects. All are volunteer leaders in these projects. And all in 4-H is not fun, it's the responsibility with the fun to have a journal or project book to record all work, leadership, and goals that are set by the member of 4-H. Yes, it's fun and all my grown kids will tell you that it was wonderful, but the paper work was sometimes intense even for a 5 year old. A pattern of doing the project paperwork helped teach all my children to do better in school, their chosen employment, and how they each raise their own children. 4-H is now in many, many countries and I love 4-H, and I loved being a leader. I have over 35 years in 4-H with my own membership and then with my own children. I do love F.F.A. as well, another great organization.
Each time 4-Her's get together in their general once-a-month meeting, they have to recite their 4-H motto. What does Coke have to do with "Health" in 4-H? I have to say, "Granted, Coke is all over the United States, except Utah, was considered just a treat for kids."  I know that even where my daughter Bree lives if a waitress asked you if you want a soda pop, she asks if you want a Coke. It's after that you decide what kind of soda pop you'd like. I suppose Coke couldn't stand to think that there was on state in the U.S. that wasn't partaking of the "greatest soda-pop" of  America. Coke had to stoop-down miserably and used the great 4-H club to promote their product. No one probably "batted an'eye" in 4-H because Coca Cola is like "apple pie" in America. So is there a 4-H cigarette? If there's one, I might faint.

I pledge
My "head" to clear thinking,
My "heart" to greater loyalty,
My "hands" to larger service, and
My "health" to better living,
For my club, my community, my country, and my world.

What started-out as something fun for my son, ended with me thinking how many things have "taken on" in advertising to have a look of good, to make us think it's okay, or even maybe good for us to take in our bodies. Oh, even fashion. Thinking more...the adversary has gotten a'hold of almost all things and is trying to make wrong to look right and okay for us. The 4-H bottle was old, easy to spot, and immediately a great lesson for me to see. There's black and white, and then there's gray. Sometimes even gray looks so pale that it's very close to white. I'm just going to wear my "righteous" glasses full-time. Sounds good to me, lesson learned. Okay, now I need to "get over it"

2 comments:

Our Aitken Love said...

The other day out of no where I recited the 4-H pledge and Matt asked me where that came from . And I was impressed and surprised that after all these years I still have that thing implanted in my mellon!

Breeda said...

How interesting. Have you searched anywhere online about it? I am so curious ... I am going to right now.

And Kiely...that is cool!!!