The real reason so many people tune into the Super Bowl is to watch the commercials companies shell out millions of dollars to have on air.  With so much money and effort spent on them, commercials are expected to be slightly more entertaining than watching the Seahawks crush the Broncos.   

Although many of the commercials were not at the standard, many were anticipating; the Coke commercial this year not only made an impression – it started a controversy.

The ad opens with picturesque shots of the United States, followed by people enjoying themselves and their families while drinking Coke. The images seem relatively tame, but what really caught everyone’s attention was the song in the background: “America the Beautiful” sung in seven different languages by seven different young women. “America the Beautiful” was translated into Tagalog, Spanish, Hebrew, Hindi, Keres and Senegalese-French, and the traditional English version. Coke posted YouTube videos of the song in Arabic and Mandarin as well, however they did not make the cut for the commercial.  

The controversy broke out on Twitter Super Bowl Sunday, when people decided that having “America the Beautiful” sung in different languages was “un-American,” and “communist,” with some going as far as to call Coca-Cola “terrorists.” Some called for a boycott of Coke products, while many demanded that the singers “learn to speak American.”

First of all, every singer in this project was bilingual – as demonstrated in the full-length versions of the songs on Coke’s YouTube page – they do in fact all speak English. As far as speaking “American,” it can be argued that the young lady singing in Keres, a language spoken by the Pueblo people in New Mexico, knows a more “American” language than any of the authors of the angry tweets, which were written in English, a language that originated in Europe.

The racist tweets show a side of America that is ignorant of its own background as a nation of immigrants. Is this a reaction Coke anticipated? Absolutely. They had to have been banking on a controversy to break out the moment the concept was born. Since Super Bowl Sunday, their commercial has garnered more attention than even the ad with the cute puppy and horse falling in love.  Coca-Cola posted YouTube videos of each of the original versions of the song, along with a behind-the-scenes video of the people featured in the ad discussing what being American means to them, and how they have experienced discrimination.

Several of the singers mentioned that it was hard to translate “America the Beautiful,” because some of the languages are less definitional and more conceptual, while others don’t have a written language – which makes one wonder if even this commercial is subliminally asking people to conform to American standards of language. However, the overall message of cultural celebration and national pride is clearly conveyed.

Coke was able to incorporate their mission of both having the most talked about Super Bowl commercial, and starting a conversation about diversity. Good going.