Segment 31 – Coca-Cola’s “America the Beautiful” Super Bowl Sunday

During this week’s NFL’s Super Bowl’s Sunday game, Coca-Cola debuted the controversial “America the Beautiful” TV commercial featuring majestic American landscapes set to the beautiful “America the Beautiful” song, sung by Americans in 7 different languages.  

According to the Coca-Cola Company, the ad “was created to celebrate Coke moments among all Americans who together enjoy ice-cold, refreshing Coke. The ad provides a snapshot of the real lives of Americans representing diverse ethnicities, religions, races and families, all found in the United States.”  

However, the commercial sparked outrage and controversy throughout the nation.  Some people even began boycotting of Coca-Cola products...

Why all the fuss? What is wrong with singing this beautiful song in 7 different languages? English, Tagalog, Spanish, Hebrew, Hindi, Keres and French

Is it true that many Americans feel that English is the only language that should be used? Is advertising in multiple languages somehow anti-American? Is multilingualism NOT the American way? What is going on here?

• The United States has no official language.
• 60 million people in the U.S. speak a language other than English at home.
• There are 381 languages commonly spoken in the U.S. The most popular being Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Arabic.
• Nearly everyone in America (except the Native Americans) is the product of foreigners.

These questions had never crossed my mind until I saw the reaction from so many people across social media this week.  My daily life is spent dealing in multiple languages, from personal to professional, since I was a child, not a day goes by without interaction with another culture or language.  

 Some thought provoking reactions: 

“… Seems like excessive political correctness. America is a melting pot, not a salad bowl. Sure, plenty of people speak a different language other than English, but speaking English is what unites the country together as a whole. It is what allows us to all function as one society. As such, one ought to be able to speak English if they want to live in this country and no advertiser ought to feel the need to advertise in any language except English in this country. 

None of that has anything to do with being bigoted. I doubt Mexico would like any of its national songs being sang in English for example. Yes, we are a product of immigration, but the kind of immigrants that built this country came here and worked and learned the language spoken. They did not come to ride the welfare system and have the country go out of its way to provide for their own language.”

- An American man on the West Coast of America, USA 

“ … My perspective is a little different. What I see is a lack of identifying as an American in this country. When we were overseas, our family was clearly identified as Americans. Everyone had a national identity, independent of ancestry. I get that we're a melting pot, but I worry that this country is going to lose some of its strength if everyone doesn't first and foremost identify as an American. I see a much stronger nationalism from those living in Europe than I see in the US. And so when I watched this Coke commercial, it made me sad to see that one of the few things I feel that's a strong part of our "American Heritage" - speaking English - missing from what is a really good patriotic song. 

I'm not prejudiced against people retaining their own language. But in a country that is so divided politically, without at least a common language to unite us (which goes a long way to help communications between different groups) we risk becoming further divided and weak. I guess what I'm saying is that in an ideal world, if we all identified ourselves as Americans first (which I do think should include speaking/learning English) then religion, ancestry, sexual orientation, etc. becomes just a minor part of who we are." 

- An American woman in Middle America, USA 

“...There are a number of things that bond us just maybe not in the same way as other countries bond. Throughout my years, one of the things that has stood out the most is that when you are born "American" you have a different sense of where you belong in the world. But this sense that you really do have options in your life, you are not pigeon-holed into one direction. Unfortunately this isn't the truth for all Americans depending on where you are born, how you are raised, or your economic status. I think it's actually wonderful that you can be American and still identify strongly with another ethnic group. Where else can you be Mexican-American, Italian-American, Indian-American, etc. and be able to fully embrace both of your cultures? I think it wouldn't be a bad idea for us to have several "official" languages. And I think it's sad that many of these people from mainly the middle of our country have forgotten just where they all came from, and why they have the choices and options they have today.”

- An American woman in New England, USA 

“...The people you are talking about – from the middle of the country - mainly speak English, so your idea that English should be the official language doesn't solve the issue that they "fail to see that America offers all these choices and opportunities", is not an issue of language. Perhaps I'm coming from a different perspective, having married a man who spoke little English when we met. Having volunteered as an English teacher, I’ve learned that many of those that truly WANT to learn English are too busy working 2-3 jobs to survive... within 2 generations, those that came from families who did not speak English, are now fluent English speakers. Language is not what divides us.”

- An American woman in Washington DC, USA 

 "We hope the ad gets people talking and thinking about what it means to be proud to be American," said Katie Bayne, president of Coca-Cola North America. 

 Very thought provoking, indeed... Hats off to Coca-Cola for igniting a spark, that’s brilliant advertising to say the least.   Coca-Cola plans on airing a 90-second version of the ad during the opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics on Feb. 7, according to the company.

  ...Stay tuned for the next Segment of HT Localization Presents Language Translations for Real Life Series, where we’ll continue … with more stuff.

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This article was written by Rachanee Thevenet, Co-Founder of HT Localization.  Rachanee is an Asian-American expat living in Spain with her family.  She loves all things international including food, art, literature, culture, languages and people.  She has years of professional product marketing expertise and global expansion experience.

HT Localization, LLC. is a worldwide translation & localization agency providing a full range of professional language translation services, including social media localization, marketing translations, website translations, software localization, eLearning materials, documentation translations, etc.  With locations in the US, Spain, France, Zambia & Thailand, and coverage across all languages and most industries, HT Localization is well positioned to provide around the globe services for all translation needs.  

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