Not many people expected the Seattle Seahawks to steamroll the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl on Sunday. Less surprising was the right-wing outrage over an ad featuring a patriotic hymn performed in multiple languages.
No, many conservatives didn’t much care for Coca-Cola’s one-minute spot, which showcased a rendition of “America The Beautiful” in languages such as English, Arabic and Spanish.
Former tea party congressman Allen West even took time to write a blog post during the game to voice his displeasure. For West, the ad started out strong enough.
“Then the words went from English to languages I didn’t recognize,” a troubled West wrote, calling it “a truly disturbing commercial.”
“If we cannot be proud enough as a country to sing ‘American (sic) the Beautiful’ in English in a commercial during the Super Bowl, by a company as American as they come — doggone we are on the road to perdition,” he wrote.
Michael Patrick Leahy over at Breitbart was offended, too.
Not only did Coke use “a deeply Christian patriotic anthem whose theme is unity – in several foreign languages,” but Leahy noted that the “ad also prominently features a gay couple.”
Fox News commentator Todd Starnes doesn’t like hearing foreign languages during the Super Bowl either.
Couldn’t make out that song they were singing. I only speak English.
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) February 3, 2014
So was Coca-Cola saying America is beautiful because new immigrants don’t learn to speak English?
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) February 3, 2014
Coca Cola is the official soft drink of illegals crossing the border. #americaisbeautiful
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) February 3, 2014
The ad even inspired a #BoycottCoke hashtag on Twitter. Mediaite has a round-up of the outraged tweets from some rank-and-file conservatives.
A Spanish-language version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” drew similar criticism in 2006, with then-President George W. Bush weighing in at the time to say “the national anthem ought to be sung in English.”
