At Super Bowl XLVIII, the Denver Broncos weren’t the only ones hurting. Coca-Cola took some hits after airing a commercial featuring a multilingual rendition of “America the Beautiful.”
The premier of the minute long Coca-Cola ad, “It’s Beautiful,” features seven languages, including English, Spanish, Tagalog, Hebrew, Hindi, Keres and French. The ad features scenes showcasing the modern-day American family, which includes a gay couple.
The commercial aimed to show audiences how diverse and amazing America is while marketing the Coca-Cola brand. Running the ad during the largest American sports event of the year was a smart move by Coca-Cola.
But some who saw the commercial focused more on the various languages in the patriotic song than the inclusive message behind it.
Thousands of angry commentators took to Facebook and Twitter to give their two cents on the commercial. One commentator wrote on Coca-Cola’s Facebook page, “Screwed up a beautiful song. No Coke for my family,” while another wrote, “Speak English or go home.”
The rush of comments sparked an online debate as to whether or not Coca-Cola had made the right decision to feature the ad.
During the second half of the Super Bowl, audiences gave mixed reviews.
Former Republican Congressman Allen West commented on his blog Allen West Republic, saying, “If we cannot be proud enough as a country to sing ‘America the Beautiful’ in English in a commercial during the Super Bowl, by a company as American as they come — doggone, we are on the road to perdition.”
Though the commercial does venture to create a new viewpoint on the traditionally American song, it also revisits the idea of diversity in America. America is commonly referred to as one of the most diverse countries in the world, so why does a commercial embracing diversity cause such outrage and hatred?
“For 127 years, Coca-Cola has been proud to be a part of bringing friends and families together while memories are made,” said Katie Bayne, president of North America Brands and Coca-Cola North America, in an article published on the Coca-Cola company website.
“With ‘It’s Beautiful’ we are simply showing that America is beautiful, and Coke is for everyone,” Bayne said.
While some called the ad unpatriotic, other commentators praised the brand for mirroring America’s diversity. Conservative expert Erick Erickson tweeted, “People, the Coke ad was well done. This is so crazy that there is outrage over it. E Pluribus Unum isn’t written in English either.”
Every year there is one Super Bowl ad that causes some controversy, but this year’s controversy should make America reflect on what the title of “American” really entails. If we begin to list what’s American and what is not, when will the list end?
If some Americans couldn’t handle the commercial depicting the diversity, then the definition of diversity should be re-written to avoid further confusion.
