I’m pissed. Yeah I said it, I’m pissed. I’ve been drinking Coca-Cola for years and recently I heard about and watched the ad they played during the Super Bowl (no, I didn’t watch the Super Bowl) and now I’m absolutely livid…
At the way people have responded to it.
No I’m not changing my tune anytime soon. I’ll still be drinking Coca-Cola as it’s the brand I prefer. But the outrage over their commercial featuring “America the Beautiful” sung in several different languages, English included, is what has me absolutely livid and very, very worried about the direction this country is going.
I’ve said here on this blog that I’m descended from Hungarian immigrants. I also have Polish and English in my lineage, and my surname suggests Scottish blood as well, plus I have Portuguese ancestry and a spot of Native American. If you were to look back on your lineage, and you’re Caucasian, you’d likely find European ancestry as well, possibly some Native American to go with it.
In the United States you will find people from every other continent on the planet. And on every other continent of the planet, you will find Coca-Cola or one of their brands (they were involved in an expedition to Antarctica, so technically they have been on all continents).
Coca-Cola is the multinational company and a leading sponsor of the Olympics. They have done what no government ever has done. They have done what no other company has done. They have crossed borders where previously, and even still currently, only our military has crossed.
For them to ignore that diversity, the diversity of the entire fucking world, the diversity that formed and feeds the cultural landscape of the United States, would be the outrage.
Singing “America the Beautiful” in various languages acknowledges where everyone in America is from, acknowledges the cultural landscape herein. Now if you’re upset that the vehicle by which they acknowledged that cultural landscape is mixed-language lyrics of “America the Beautiful”, then all I can say is that you need to get over yourself. For one, “The Star Spangled Banner”, “God Bless America” and “America the Beautiful” have been translated and performed in other languages. The Federal government has commissioned such translations in the past. So there is no reason to say that these songs can only or must only be performed in English.
Former Representative Allen West said “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.” Here’s my take, how about being proud enough as individuals to sing “America the Beautiful” in whatever language you are comfortable singing?
It is only the cultish patriotism that has flooded this country since 9/11 that is causing people to take the position that these “sacred hymns” must only be performed in English and cannot be performed in other languages.
The Coca-Cola Company started in the United States and has its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia – if you haven’t visited the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, I highly suggest it. Coca-Cola, however, cannot be called “a company as American as they come”, namely because they aren’t trying to force America on the world, only bring a product to people who will buy it.
And hey, if you’re going to boycott Coca-Cola because of their latest ad, that just means more for me and more for the rest of the world.
And one last note: English is a language originally foreign to the United States.
