Football Commercials

999 Words2 Pages

When the U.S prepares for the Super Bowl, Americans become excited for two things, football and commercials. This February, the NFL had its 48th annual Super Bowl in conjunction with the highly anticipated commercials. There was one commercial released by a world famous soda producer, Coca Cola, which has created much controversy. Coca Cola took a unique take on the classic “America the Beautiful” song that has caused quite an uproar regarding prejudice, discrimination, and ethnicity in America. The ad opens with “America the Beautiful” being sung in English while every few seconds after that the song changes to a different language. It depicts children, teenagers, and adults of all cultures enjoying the adventures and combined principles of America, while essentially being brought together by Coca Cola. “The song was sung in English, Tagalog, Spanish, Hebrew, Hindi, Keres and Senegalese-French. The commercial also featured a gay family” (Hillburn). Since this ad was released, Coca Cola has received extensive feedback (negative and positive) through social websites. The negative feedback provides proof that prejudice and discrimination are still a valid concern within America’s borders and beyond. There is an article released by “Voice of America” that goes in depth with the reactions of Americans towards this commercial. As Henslin defines it, prejudice is “an attitude or prejudging, usually in a negative way” (p. 337). The article, which covered the controversy of the ad, stated that many viewers expressed their feelings by saying, “English, please” (Hillburn). Most American’s are aware that the U.S does not have a National language, regardless of the fact that many Americans speak English. For these Americans to negatively... ... middle of paper ... ... There is no true definition or language of an American. Coca Cola’s commercial clearly embraces the diversity that is embedded in American history, thus portraying the melting pot through the use of different languages. One of the reasons America is so beautiful is because we accept and embrace other nationalities. Conversely, the negative impact of the commercial depicts how America still has not moved past prejudice thinking’s, discrimination, and segregation. Works Cited Coca Cola. (2014). America Is Beautiful [Television commercial]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=443Vy3I0gJs Henslin, J.M. (2012) Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. (10th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Hillburn, M. (2014). Multilingual Coke Commercial Sparks Debate. VOA. Retrieved February 7, 2014, from http://www.voanews.com/content/coke-commercial-sparks-debate/1843696.html

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