From Ali to Sanchez: Coca-Cola is now paying celebrity chefs and food bloggers to endorse their beverages

From crunchy tacos to newly grilled steaks to fresh chicken sandwiches, the Coca-Cola company believes that their signature beverages pairs wonderfully with all these foods. And they want you, their consumer, to think the same way too. That’s the angle of their newest campaign, “Serve with Coca-Cola”, a documentary-style series of shorts that highlight the diversity of food culture and play up the supposed greatness of Coca-Cola. Whether you’re chowing down on food truck fare or enjoying a bit of homemade goodness, Coca-Cola is supposed to be the perfect drink to go with your meal. The company has partnered up with famous figures in the food scene to truly hammer this point home, including the likes of celebrity chefs Roblé Ali and Aarón Sanchez in their campaign.

Considering musicians like Maroon 5 and will.i.am have made millions endorsing the brand, it’s no wonder that Ali and Sanchez have agreed to the collaboration. Nor is it any surprise that the Coca-Cola company turned to celebrity chefs, food bloggers, and foodies for their newest attempt at boosting slumping sales, especially in Latin America. Not only did the company witness a poor first quarter performance in Latin America (earning just $1.18 billion; a paltry figure compared to last year’s $1.48 billion), but carbonated soft drinks as a whole have continued to decline in sales for the twelfth year in a row.

With musical entertainers failing to capture the attention of a disinterested consumer base, it makes sense that the Coca-Cola company would ally itself with celebrity chefs and food bloggers next. Over the years, a number of studies have been made on the influence and power celebrity chefs have over the general public.

In fact, the researchers of a 2010 study in the United Kingdom (UK) found that the celebrity chefs had the greatest impact on the peoples’ eating habits. While a mere 10 percent of adults stated that the government influenced what they ate, 31 percent said that they were inspired by celebrity chefs and their cooking shows. Even the sales of tableware and kitchenware has been influenced by celebrity chefs, with a recent study estimating that the North American demand will lead to the industry reaching $12.7 billion in sales by 2021. Food bloggers have been shown to be just as powerful as celebrity chefs, however, and have even edged out professional food critics as the average diner’s go-to source of food information.

Maybe celebrity chefs and food bloggers can do the same for the Coca-Cola company. That’s what James Quincey, new CEO of Coca-Cola, seems to be aiming for. According to FoodDive.com, their beverages are “responsible for the lion’s share of Coca-Cola’s revenue and profits so anything it can do to boost sales is going to be a positive.” Whether or not this is going to work remains to be seen. After all, the public has wised-up to the fact that carbonated soft drinks aren’t the most nutritional beverages on the market, and more people are giving up soda in favor of healthier drinks like water. (Related: Coca-Cola pushing soft drinks for breakfast in bid to boost sales)

Read up on news focusing on even more famous faces by visiting CelebrityReputation.com. You can also drop by FastFood.news to remain up to date on what’s going on in the industry of fast food and soft drinks.

Sources include:

FoodDive.com

NPR.org

NursingTimes.net

FreedoniaFocusReports.com

LightspeedHQ.com