“It’s Beautiful”

“It’s Beautiful:” Coca Cola’s newest commercial, originally released during the Super Bowl, has recently created uproar among many people nationwide. This 60-second clip features many scenes of ordinary American life while “America the Beautiful” is sung in the background. While seemingly nonthreatening, the song is a medley sung in various languages in addition to English (including Spanish, Hindi, Keres—a Native American language, Tagalog, Senegalese French, and Hebrew), enraging people across the country who believe it makes the commercial, and the company attached to it, “un-American.”

These people, who have mostly turned to social media (especially Twitter) to express their discontent, claim that the non-English languages and the “foreigners” attached to them show disrespect and an inaccurate depiction of what it means to be an American. But in defining what it means to be American, let’s not forget what America was founded upon and the ways by which our country has grown throughout the past few centuries.

Some, like Twitter user @turndaddy79, argue that we have betrayed America and being American by including other languages: “#[f***]COKE it’s America and the USA language is English…not all this foreign [s***]” To claim that our language in America is English and only English would be false. In fact, to date the United States does not even have an official language. Furthermore, according to the 2011 census, though almost 80% of Americans speak only English, almost a fifth of the national population is bilingual, speaking another language in addition to English. Though still a minority, this large percentage shows not only the existence of other languages in America, but also the prevalence at which they are spoken in our country. Writing off foreign languages as being un-American completely discounts these people who are just as American as anyone else.

Others, like Twitter user @osutruster4, wish to think that those who can speak other languages are foreigners that do not belong in America: “Get the foreigners off the AMERICAN COKE commercial. K” First, we must consider that language does not determine or parallel residential or citizenship status and understand that bilingualism is not the same as being foreign. Furthermore, America has always prided itself as a Great Melting Pot of people, cultures, languages, and traditions. It is a place where immigrants have always held the possibility of transforming into Americans. It is a place in which people of all cultures and nationalities can live together “in a spirit of trust and Civil Liberty.” People of all races and cultures have come to the US and found just that. In the past decade, almost 50% of immigrants, coming from Europe, Asia, and the Americas, have become US citizens. They now work the same jobs, vote for the same government, partake in the same community, and live very similar lives to all the people who have come before them. They have come to the Great Melting Pot, brought their diverse backgrounds, and have, in fact, become American.

Then there are some, like Twitter user @ElJungleCat, who think that anyone who is non-white is not American and therefore does not belong in this country: “That coke commercial sucked. Mexicans, jews, and [n******] are not ‘American’.” We must remember that America was built upon immigrants. Throughout history, America and its development has been shaped by immigrants from all over the world. Our country began the journey to what it is today when European settlers came to what we now know as America in the 1500’s; they provided the start to colonization and development in the New World. In the mid 1800’s, the Chinese immigrants flocked to America during the Gold Rush and became railroad workers, credited with building the western portion of the Central Pacific Road. Then, in the 1900’s, the Italian immigrants came to America’s major cities and took heavy construction jobs that led to bridges, tunnels, and skyscrapers. These non-English speaking immigrants, and more, were every bit as important to the development of our nation to become what it has today.

Interestingly and unsurprisingly, in planning and creating this commercial, Coke had a much different vision in mind. While the first version was released during the Super Bowl, the extended 90-second version was created to debut during the 2014 Winter Olympics to reinforce a sense of unity in our country and celebrate how beautiful America is. They chose seven bilingual girls who identify as being American to sing the song in their respective languages. Katie Bayne, the president of Coca Cola North America shares her view on the commercial’s basic concept: “Our ad provides a snapshot of the real lives of Americans representing diverse ethnicities, religions, races and families, all found in the United States. We believe ‘It’s Beautiful’ is a great example of the magic that makes our country so special, and a powerful message that spreads optimism, promotes inclusion and celebrates humanity – values that are core to Coca-Cola.” Like she says, America is special because of all of the diversity that can be found here. Even more, it is precisely the unification of all that diversity that has allowed for America to thrive and has made it what it is today—beautiful.

Sources:

http://publicshaming.tumblr.com/post/75447787843/speak-english-racist-revolt-as-coca-cola-airs

http://answers.usa.gov/system/templates/selfservice/USAGov/#!portal/1012/article/3206/OfficialLanguageoftheUS

http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acs-22.pdf

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/immigration/chinese.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Chinese.html

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/italian_immigration.cfm

http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/america-is-beautiful-and-coca-cola-is-for-everyone