During the Super Bowl, the Coca Cola Corporation released an ad in which America The Beautiful was sung in multiple languages. The response from the this-is-America-we-only-speak-English crowd was quick and vicious. Among the replies:
And:
Thus proving once again that the greatest defenders of spoken English are the ones most in need of help with the written version.
But the most interesting part of this story is the response to the commercial from the US Department Of Health and Human Services:
“The USHS applauds the actions taken by the Coca Cola Corporation. Extensive research over the past few decades has determined that anger poses a significant threat to human health. It impacts the smooth functioning of the heart, circulatory system, and other vital biological systems. Research by the American Heart Association has also determined that sugar can actually affect the pumping mechanism of the heart and can increase the risk for heart failure.
Thus, members of the English-only population are at extra risk when consuming large amounts of sugary soft drinks such as Coca-Cola. We applaud the company for its efforts to wean its most at-risk customers from its own product. It is this type of selfless, compassionate stewardship by large corporations that makes America such an attractive place to live.”
Yes, I agree. America is a beautiful country. Well, most of it anyway.
Their marketing dept. must must have got a serious sugar rush out of that ad!
Yep, it’s the real thing!