hello, it’s friday night and i have a reach for you:
mcdonald’s & coke, best buddies
mcdonald’s and coke have had a commercial partnership since 1955. i always knew that mcdonald’s only served coke (though never on a conscious level), and finally bothered to look up their connected history thanks to whatever theory this is trying to be. they’ve both been major players in brand globalization, and i think this is what the mcdonald’s sign in sana’s header is referring to.
i don’t think skam plays with product placement the way american shows do; they mention brands and shows and places the way real people would, prioritizing reality over indirect endorsements. so i thought it was…strange that we saw the mcdonald’s brand balloons featured so prominently. why these? why not plain balloons? and why did the logo get so much screen time?
but then people pointed out that this was a reference to the balloon boys’ connection to even, because of where he tried to go in 3x08.
i wanted to believe those two small references were meant to bind the two squads together, but i was also able to brush them off as coincidences. mcdonald’s is pop culture, so you cannot erase its existence from a show dedicated to depicting teenagers in that context.
but then we got another reference, shortly after even confirms his connection to the rest of the balloon squad in 4x03.
(side note: i am glad that mcdonald’s is not a negative memory for either isak or even, that it’s still part of their lives and isak is actually quite excited about it)
(okay was that a side note or foreshadowing…?)
anyway, i could leave it at that, a solid connection between even and the balloon squad. but then today’s clip of the pepsi max gang at sana’s, with their ridiculously prominent placement of the drink they are supposedly not named after anymore, reminded me of the coke vs. pepsi war that is also a pop culture cornerstone. and where have we seen coke? hei briskeby.
this could be a coincidence too, they’re just boys, casually drinking preferred beverages while they’re having fun recording their videos. but at this point i am way too sensitive to branding and the small hints that julie leaves for us to let it slide.
we’re seeing the tensions ramp up with pepsi max, but i’m hoping, on the coca-cola side, we’re going to see a reunion. mcdonalds & coke, best buddies. those balloons were the first bridge back to even, and no matter the rough times coming, we’ll see more clues that will bring them together. if i see the balloon squad eating mcdonald’s or even taking a swig of coke, then i just might actually die.
oh my god did i just try to write a corporate marketing headcanon
romaincrisis
jbbartram-illu
jacobvanloon
ellievsbear
kianamaiart
