Coca Cola’s Super Bowl Ad Sparks Racism Controversy
Published in El Pais
(Spain) on 3 February 2014
by Yolanda Monge (link to original)
(Spain) on 3 February 2014
by Yolanda Monge (link to original)
Translated from
by Matt Valentine.
Edited by Gillian Palmer.
The one-minute commercial shows everyday scenes over the lyrics of "America the Beautiful" — considered an anthem of the United States — sung in eight different languages.
One thing is certain — the Coca Cola commercial during the Super Bowl was not expected to be the one that brought to the fore the most racist and reactionary forces on Twitter and other social networks, raging against diversity and foreigners. It was thought that Cheerios, whose commercial shows an inter-racial family — a black father, white mother, mixed-raced daughter — would probably cause the controversy.
However, what was supposed to be a tribute to the diversity of a country founded for freedom sparked off intolerance by showing on screen, for one minute, different people doing different everyday activities with the song "America the Beautiful" in the background, being sung in up to eight different languages — English, Hindu, Spanish, Arabic, Tagalog, etc.
In a matter of minutes, #BoycottCoke became a global trending topic, which brought together people who were criticizing Coca Cola’s slogan, making the traffic grow even more. The song is considered a second national anthem and is frequently performed at public and sports events.
"Speak English!" read many of the comments.
"Thanks, Coca Cola, for desecrating our national anthem," wrote another Internet user.
"Never buying Coca Cola again ... 'America the Beautiful' in a language other than English is just wrong," said another Twitter user.
The controversy continued to spread across the social network site with another hashtag, #SpeakAmerican, which expressed the same grievances about "national identity" being altered and even the balkanization of the United States.
Former Congressman Allen West, R-Fla., complained about Coca Cola’s lack of imagination in the way that it got Americans to defend their culture, language and borders on such a public level. Well aware of Washington and the main powers there, West did not join in the boycott of the popular soft drink but suggested that advertisers could have shown diversity through members of the Army from different races.
At a time when Congress is debating reform of immigration policy, the parties involved in the debate have waded into the controversy, either praising or criticizing the commercial, depending on which side of the fence they were sitting on regarding the issue.
People who thought that it was entirely appropriate reminded those making racist remarks that the U.S. does not have an official language, that 60 million American citizens speak a language that is not English at home, that the U.S. was multilingual before English was ever spoken there and that almost everyone living in the U.S. is there as a result of immigration, except for Native American Indians, and there are not many of them left because of well-known historic events.
The "tower of Babel" caused such a scandal that viewers completely missed that the commercial contained, for the first time during a Super Bowl, a gay couple skating with what looks like their daughter, according to GLAAD. Kate Ellisin, GLAAD president, said in a statement, "Including a gay family in this ad is not only a step forward for the advertising industry, but a reflection of the growing majority of Americans who proudly support their LGBT friends, family and neighbors as integral parts of 'America the Beautiful.'"
They say that there is nothing more American than Coca Cola ... Since the night of the Super Bowl, not everyone is so sure.
One thing is certain — the Coca Cola commercial during the Super Bowl was not expected to be the one that brought to the fore the most racist and reactionary forces on Twitter and other social networks, raging against diversity and foreigners. It was thought that Cheerios, whose commercial shows an inter-racial family — a black father, white mother, mixed-raced daughter — would probably cause the controversy.
However, what was supposed to be a tribute to the diversity of a country founded for freedom sparked off intolerance by showing on screen, for one minute, different people doing different everyday activities with the song "America the Beautiful" in the background, being sung in up to eight different languages — English, Hindu, Spanish, Arabic, Tagalog, etc.
In a matter of minutes, #BoycottCoke became a global trending topic, which brought together people who were criticizing Coca Cola’s slogan, making the traffic grow even more. The song is considered a second national anthem and is frequently performed at public and sports events.
"Speak English!" read many of the comments.
"Thanks, Coca Cola, for desecrating our national anthem," wrote another Internet user.
"Never buying Coca Cola again ... 'America the Beautiful' in a language other than English is just wrong," said another Twitter user.
The controversy continued to spread across the social network site with another hashtag, #SpeakAmerican, which expressed the same grievances about "national identity" being altered and even the balkanization of the United States.
Former Congressman Allen West, R-Fla., complained about Coca Cola’s lack of imagination in the way that it got Americans to defend their culture, language and borders on such a public level. Well aware of Washington and the main powers there, West did not join in the boycott of the popular soft drink but suggested that advertisers could have shown diversity through members of the Army from different races.
At a time when Congress is debating reform of immigration policy, the parties involved in the debate have waded into the controversy, either praising or criticizing the commercial, depending on which side of the fence they were sitting on regarding the issue.
People who thought that it was entirely appropriate reminded those making racist remarks that the U.S. does not have an official language, that 60 million American citizens speak a language that is not English at home, that the U.S. was multilingual before English was ever spoken there and that almost everyone living in the U.S. is there as a result of immigration, except for Native American Indians, and there are not many of them left because of well-known historic events.
The "tower of Babel" caused such a scandal that viewers completely missed that the commercial contained, for the first time during a Super Bowl, a gay couple skating with what looks like their daughter, according to GLAAD. Kate Ellisin, GLAAD president, said in a statement, "Including a gay family in this ad is not only a step forward for the advertising industry, but a reflection of the growing majority of Americans who proudly support their LGBT friends, family and neighbors as integral parts of 'America the Beautiful.'"
They say that there is nothing more American than Coca Cola ... Since the night of the Super Bowl, not everyone is so sure.
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