Every month I write an op-ed and fire it off to one or more of the papers in my home state. Sometimes they get published, occassionally they don't, and once in a while they'll either run ONLY online or ONLY in print. This one ran only in print, so I'm posting it here.
Sunday February 2nd was a day much awaited by many in the Pacific Northwest. For the first time in years the nation’s biggest sporting event, perhaps the most-watched-live event of the year in the United States, was seeing some Pacific Northwestern love. The Seattle Seahawks got their glorious chance to strut their stuff on a truly national stage. However, in all honesty, the teams, great defense and well executed strategy is never the only draw for us Americans on Superbowl Sunday. We also gather around our televisions to watch ads that have been become legendary.
According to the international business times Super Bowl Ad prices have hit an all time high. With a 30 second spot selling for four million dollars. That’s more than $130,000 a second. The companies that buy these ad slots doing so with the full knowledge that a Super Bowl ad is not just an ad. America has expectations. These ads are sharp, their messages are clear. They tell American stories--even if the companies behind them are multi-national conglomerates or even international firms.
Sunday February 2nd was a day much awaited by many in the Pacific Northwest. For the first time in years the nation’s biggest sporting event, perhaps the most-watched-live event of the year in the United States, was seeing some Pacific Northwestern love. The Seattle Seahawks got their glorious chance to strut their stuff on a truly national stage. However, in all honesty, the teams, great defense and well executed strategy is never the only draw for us Americans on Superbowl Sunday. We also gather around our televisions to watch ads that have been become legendary.
According to the international business times Super Bowl Ad prices have hit an all time high. With a 30 second spot selling for four million dollars. That’s more than $130,000 a second. The companies that buy these ad slots doing so with the full knowledge that a Super Bowl ad is not just an ad. America has expectations. These ads are sharp, their messages are clear. They tell American stories--even if the companies behind them are multi-national conglomerates or even international firms.
Each and every year there’s an ad or two that sparks a discussion. In 2011 Groupon’s first television experience was a flop, 2012 Teleflora came under the gun for an inuendo-laden bit, 2013 saw GoDaddy.com and Volkswagon fielding queries about the social impact of their ads, and 2014, it seems, is the year for Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola a company that produced a seemingly benign patriotic ad featuring images of people from across the country enjoying Coca-Cola to a multi-lingual (and very well executed) rendition of “America The Beautiful.”
The ad didn’t feature women in sexualized positions, it didn’t make fun of minority groups or attempt to appeal to the crass humor of middle school boys. What this ad did do was represent the United States of America as a melting pot of cultures, languages and histories. People gathered from all corners of the world, ethnic and/or religious backgrounds and all generations of arrival to the United States, as a part of one nation. The Coca-Cola ad painted a surprisingly accurate picture of The United States of America that many of us know and love. A place, that while still struggling for equality for all, is home of the free, land of the brave and a nation built by immigrants. People who gave up everything to come to a whole new world in order to work hard and create a new future.
The internet exploded and sites like Twitter went wild.
Apparently the rendition of America the Beautiful in a variety of languages was just too much for some people.
Racist slogans bubbled their way to the surface, demanding immigrants go home, and insisting that the United States had one national language (the US does not in fact have an “official national language according to the Federal Government). What Coca-Cola inadvertently brought to the surface wasn’t the warm fuzzy feeling of being American that the company no-doubt hoped to evoke, but rather the gut-wrenching reminder that for some people, anyone who doesn't’ look or sound or act like them, cannot be an “American.” That some people have forgotten that their ancestors too, were once immigrants in a strange new land, and that the promise of opportunity that the US brings is tied irrevocably to a shared commitment and work-ethic. People proclaiming the utter unbelievability that a major corporation might recognize the United States of America as a land built by immigrants, demonstrated that our immigration problem runs much deeper than a simple broken system that Congress needs to mend.
Apparently the rendition of America the Beautiful in a variety of languages was just too much for some people.
Racist slogans bubbled their way to the surface, demanding immigrants go home, and insisting that the United States had one national language (the US does not in fact have an “official national language according to the Federal Government). What Coca-Cola inadvertently brought to the surface wasn’t the warm fuzzy feeling of being American that the company no-doubt hoped to evoke, but rather the gut-wrenching reminder that for some people, anyone who doesn't’ look or sound or act like them, cannot be an “American.” That some people have forgotten that their ancestors too, were once immigrants in a strange new land, and that the promise of opportunity that the US brings is tied irrevocably to a shared commitment and work-ethic. People proclaiming the utter unbelievability that a major corporation might recognize the United States of America as a land built by immigrants, demonstrated that our immigration problem runs much deeper than a simple broken system that Congress needs to mend.
It also touches on the very soul of our nation. Immigration is a question of our future.
Does the United States of America stand as a land of opportunity, where racism and sexism are fought, and hard work pays off, and as a place where people of all cultures, colors and creeds can call each other friend, or is the United States losing that great and proud American dream? Are we becoming a xenophobic nation, afraid of anyone who isn’t Leave it To Beaver cast-member material?
Does the United States of America stand as a land of opportunity, where racism and sexism are fought, and hard work pays off, and as a place where people of all cultures, colors and creeds can call each other friend, or is the United States losing that great and proud American dream? Are we becoming a xenophobic nation, afraid of anyone who isn’t Leave it To Beaver cast-member material?
Coca-Cola, inadvertent as it may be, has asked us to be a better nation than that. Has asked us to embrace what makes the United States of America unique, and what is one of our strongest traits--our differences. So maybe it’s time to call Congress and ask for some legislation change on immigration, and maybe it’s time to remember where almost all Americans today came from---immigrant families, working hard to build this nation into greatness. Just like so many of the immigrant families here today.
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