Coke ad controversy

Photo by: Will Gentry

 

Every Super Bowl season there is at least one commercial that stirs up a bit of controversy, and this year Coca-Cola’s “It’s Beautiful” commercial claimed the spot.

The ad features children and adults from across the country singing “America the Beautiful” in multiple languages, an image that ignited a lot of social media outrage.

The controversy erupted because there were those who didn’t like the idea of hearing “America the Beautiful” performed in languages other than English. Others disapproved of the inclusion of two gay fathers in the ad. Overall, the controversy questioned the equality of minority cultures against the image of a dominant American culture.

Sophomore Mercedes Ducat recognizes America as a melting pot.

“Personally, I really like that commercial,” Ducat said. “… Often we only see America with one face, and this commercial made everyone look and see all of the faces America has.”

Bryan Shade, a business graduate from Northeastern State University and current law student said he loved the commercial.

“I think this video is a perfect representation of the American landscape,” Shade said. “I am pleased to see a major corporation acknowledge that this country belongs to everyone.”

Shade thinks that for the first time in a long time the demographics in this country are shifting towards a majority of the population being of non-European decent, and he thinks that is fueling some hostility. He asks the question, “If you can fight for this country, why can’t you sing praises in your own language?”

“Any time you see a shift away from the imperialism of the dominant society, you see this type of blowback,” Shade said. “I think that the people who took issue with this ad are worried.”

Ducat suggested that this commercial is so controversial because Americans can tend to be close-minded.

“People think America isn’t for everyone,” Ducat said. “They look at those people in that commercial and just see immigrants and see people who they believe are taking their hard-earned money from them, and that upsets them – so it creates discrimination towards those people.”

Senior Joselyn Puente said she did not understand the backlash from the commercial, and asked the question, “What really defines an American?”

“I just think that people are close-minded to what reality is,” Puente said. “They want to believe what they’re telling themselves. No one can change someone’s attitude about something. The fact that they choose to ignore reality is what messes everything up. It’s almost human nature to judge; to judge those that are not like you. We should try to be better, because we can be.”

Shade said that this commercial celebrates the differences that make America what it is.

“The groups of people that have a problem with this ad forget that, three or four generations back, their direct ancestors were immigrants to these United States,” Shade said. “This song is an honor. My grandfather was born in 1923. He was a full-blood Cherokee … Indians have been citizens of the United States for less than a century. He and the generations before and after him have served bravely for this country, and a flag that was foreign not that long ago.”

Ducat also said the commercial defines America as a country of diversity and is setting higher standards for American culture.

“They aren’t singing the songs of their own separate nations, they are singing the song of our nation,” Ducat said. “They are showing what a beautifully diverse nation we live in, and I think that the commercial can set a new standard of acceptance around the world.”

Only one thing about the commercial needed to change, according to Shade.

“The only thing they could have done differently would have been to add an ending where all were singing together in their own languages,” Shade said. “As they sang together, their voices would blend and the only thing you would hear is the harmony of the tune and that is the underlying message.”

According to Puente the commercial represented a positive ideal.

“I thought it was the best commercial of the night, which pretty much made up for the [Super Bowl] game,” Puente said. “There was nothing bad about it. It was pure.”

Ducat said that the Coca-Cola commercial reminded her of another controversial commercial from Cheerios, which featured an interracial couple.

“There was a lot of controversy over that commercial as well, and that just showed me that we, as a nation, really haven’t come as far as we think we have,” Ducat said. “I am the product of an interracial marriage, and I have never in my daily life been treated unfairly because of my race. But now to know that there are still people out there who find it offensive to be in an interracial relationship, it saddens me and shows me that America, the country where we so fiercely push equality, has a long road ahead of them before we can really say that everyone is equal.”

Coca-Cola released a longer version of the “America Is Beautiful” advertisement during the Sochi Winter Olympics. Coke has stood behind their ad, claiming that all participants in the commercial are American citizens. They also released a series of behind the scenes videos documenting the creation of the commercial.