Last but not least: #AmericaIsBeautiful becomes #fuckcoke
Brands like Coca-Cola shell out millions to air their TV commercials during the Super Bowl, a major marketing event. With this year’s commercial, Coca-Cola has now sparked what is likely the most expensive social media backlash of 2014. It’s almost hard to believe that this came as a surprise.
The commercial draws inspiration from the wholesome classic Coke ad from the 1970s, in which people of different skin colors gather in a meadow to sing Billy Davis’s song «I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing» together. The new commercial also celebrates the sense of community among people of different backgrounds and has them sing along to the song «America Is Beautiful.» The key difference from the original: The Americans in the current commercial don’t sing in English, but in their own native languages—including Spanish and Arabic.
Coca-Cola has thus left behind its vacuous, idealistic optimism and taken a political stance. By celebrating the country’s linguistic diversity, the commercial calls into question the U.S.«s »melting pot” integration strategy. This is particularly controversial given the immense growth of the Hispanic population, which is increasingly demanding that the Spanish language be preserved. The fact that devout Muslims are given significant screen time in this multicultural ad hasn’t exactly earned it widespread acceptance either. If one takes the tweets on Twitter at face value, this has prompted countless people to spit out their Coke in disgust and drink only Pepsi from now on. (sis)
