The Role of Soundtrack in Audio-Visual Advertisements: A Case of Coca-Cola Commercials

Audio-visual Coca-Cola commercials are conceptualized as art that falls in the genre of film. They use soundtracks that are in congruence with advertisers’ messages. The review of extant literature shows that the frame by frame presentation of images is enhanced by the use of the right melodies that are in form of customized popular music. Following the principles of semiotics, the researcher conducted a content analysis on a sample of twelve audio-visual Coca-Cola commercials, identified through convenience sampling from YouTube. The purpose of this paper was to assess how soundtracks interact with visuals in audio-visual Coca-Cola commercials to create images that are a representation of mediated reality. The findings of this study indicate that the audio-video Coca-Cola advertisements rely on a combination of visual image and sound to create signs (constellations of signifiers) that encourage audiences to identify with characters featured taking Coke drinks, as they exhibit excitement and enthusiasms. The interaction of lyrics and other visual elements enable the audience to interpret created images, assign meanings, and assume the subject positions defined by themes in commercials

Suicide in a rural area of coastal Kenya

Background Suicide accounts for approximately 1.4% of deaths globally and is the 15th leading cause of death overall. There are no reliable data on the epidemiology of completed suicide in rural areas of many developing countries, yet suicide is an indicator of the sustainable development goals on health. Methods Using data collected between 2008 and 2016 from the Kilifi Health and Demographic Surveillance System in rural Kenya, we retrospectively determined the incidence rate and risk factors for completed suicide. Results During the period, 104 people died by suicide, contributing to 0.78% (95% CI = 0.74–1.10) of all deaths. The mean annual incidence rate of suicide was 4.61 (95% CI = 3.80–5.58) per 100,000 person years of observation (pyo). The annual incidence rate for men was higher than that of women (IRR = 3.05, 95% CI = 1.98–4.70, p 64 years had the highest mean incidence rate of 18.58 (95% CI = 11.99–28.80) per 100,000 pyo. Completed suicide was associated with age, being male, and living in a house whose wall is made of scrap material, which is a proxy marker of extreme poverty in this region (OR = 5.5, 95% CI = 4.0–7.0, p = 0.02). Most cases (76%) completed suicide by hanging themselves. Spatial heterogeneity of rates of suicides was observed across the enumeration zones of the KHDSS. Conclusions Suicide is common in this area, but the incidence of completed suicide in rural Kenya may be an underestimate of the true burden. Like in other studies, suicide was associated with older age, being male and poverty, but other medical and neuropsychiatric risk factors should be investigated in future studies.</p