The Coca Cola Hoopla: America die Schoene

During the Superbowl Coca Cola, arguably the soft drink giant of the world, presented a commercial that contained a multi-lingual version "America the Beautiful". Almost immediately, people took to social media to cry foul. I must admit one second into the commercial I said, "What?", but once more languages were presented, I smiled. This was a beautiful one minute display of America. Before I go on, I must say that at the end of the day this was still an advertisement for Coca Cola, and its message is very clear.

"America was founded by the British, and they speak English!" some cry out. I am quick to respond, but the Brits weren't the only ones there. The French were involved, as well as the Spanish. America was founded by multiple cultures, with the British culture being the dominant one. We must also not forget the numerous Native American cultures that were here long before the Pilgrims. Following the colonial times, more cultures were introduced into the American picture. Irish and German immigrants came. Asians came to America during the Gold Rush and building of the Intercontinental Railroad. Eastern Europeans followed, and America quickly became the melting pot we know today. I like to think we are more like a robust stew rather than simply a melting pot.

We are the most diverse country on earth. A great example of this is our Olympic team. European teams are beginning to look like ours, but our Olympic team is still the greatest mix of ethnic backgrounds. The Chinese team looks... Chinese. The Scandinavian teams look... Scandinavian. The Italian team looks... Italian. The American team looks... Diverse. You cannot present a picture of a person and say they are American, based on just their physical features. We can identify an Italian, or a Korean, or a person of Middle Eastern descent, but we cannot identify an American the same way. This puts America at a huge advantage! We have people from all over the world. Different cultures make up the United States of America, and it indeed is beautiful.

Knowing that America is a robust stew, we must now accept that this stew does not only speak English. Our official documents may be in English, because most Americans speak this language, but our official language does not exist. The United States does not have an official language by law, but merely by default. This does not mean we must throw out other languages! "America the Beautiful" was written in English, sure, but even Church hymns were written in other languages. The Bible was mainly written in Hebrew and Greek; Aramaic was a popular language in Jesus' day. Does that mean it is time to learn Hebrew and Greek and only speak in these languages when speaking theologically? Certainly not! God did not change everyone's language to Aramaic or Hebrew at the Pentecost, no, He enable the disciples to speak other languages! 

We are America die Schoene (beautiful in German). We are a beautiful collection of cultures, from sea to shining see. We should be celebrating this! Soldiers died for this! I'm not even going to begin ranting about how grieved I am when I hear, "Soldiers did not die for a multi-lingual America". Yes, I saw a Facebook post that pretty much said that. All things said, at the end of the day this Coca Cola ad was just that, an ad. Its message is clear;  America is for all people, and Coca Cola is too so drink it. The fact that I am ranting about it, and people are up in arms about it, shows that this was indeed a genius advertisement. What's the genius? We are thinking, arguing, and talking about Coca Cola. Cheers.