EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ, February 4, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Coca-Cola commercial that aired during the Super Bowl should generate less controversy for changing languages during verses of “America the Beautiful” than for changing the definition of the family, according to a prominent critic.
The one-minute Coke advertisement, entitled “It's Beautiful,” was the first Super Bowl ad to feature a homosexual “family.”
The spot begins and ends with a cowboy in the great outdoors as a female voice sings the patriotic anthem in English. In between, the commercial shows people of varying religions and ethnicities – including hijab-wearing Muslims walking through Chinatown – as the song's lyrics are sung in alternating languages.
The ad shows two male homosexuals holding hands, then hugging a young child. The gay family is intertwined with other elements of the mosaic that makes up America, according to the soda giant's advertising department.
Homosexual activists were quick to praise the positive portrayal of homosexuality.
Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis praised the ad. “Including a gay family in this ad is not only a step forward for the advertising industry, but a reflection of the growing majority of Americans from all walks of life who proudly support their LGBT friends, family and neighbors as integral parts of 'America the Beautiful,'” she said. “Coca-Cola has demonstrated to corporate America that being LGBT-inclusive is good business.”
She called on Coke and other Fortune 500 companies to “show the whole world how beautiful LGBT families are.”
Gay activist Dan Savage also saluted the ad – while chiding the soda giant to “[p]ut a pair of Russian gay dads in an ad that you run in Russia—during the Olympics.”
The Los Angeles Times reported, “While some felt the inclusion of a gay couple in the ad was a positive show of support, others felt it didn't go far enough.”
But pro-family observers objected to the content altogether.
“Coke's Super Bowl ad is only the latest step in the escalating government-corporate campaign to normalize homosexuality in the culture,” said Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality.
“Americans are being conditioned to accept sexual perversion as normal and good, and there is some big corporate money behind it,” LaBarbera told LifeSiteNews. “It's sad that families can't even watch the Super Bowl anymore without having their faith undermined.”
With an estimated audience of 115.3 million viewers, Super Bowl XLVIII broke all records as the most-watched televised event in U.S. history.
In a “behind the scenes” video released alongside the ad, the homosexual couple in the video said the culture is becoming more gay-friendly. “Today, I see people asking us to hold hands, people embracing us as a family and respecting us,” one of the men said.
“We don't get to pick and choose whether America will be diverse or not,” one of the Arab girls says in the “behind the scenes” video. “We need to celebrate all the different diversities.”
“Common sense, reason, and centuries of Judeo-Christian history tell us that it is best for children to have a mom and a dad. This is what responsible companies should celebrate,” LaBarbera told LifeSiteNews. “Yet instead Coke chose to pander to the 'Gay' Lobby by honoring homosexual parenting – in this case a household that intentionally denies children a mother.”
LaBarbera said there was one solution to cultural messages promoting any kind of sexual immorality. “Parents must take proactive steps to explain to their children why biblical morality is preferable to an ideology and lifestyle that celebrates sexual sin in the name of 'diversity,'” he said.
Showcasing homosexuals alongside ethnic minorities places those who object on the defensive against charges they are “racist,” he said.
Homosexual activist John Aravosis took precisely this tactic in a blog entry entitled, “Racists explode at Coke for Super Bowl ad singing 'America the Beautiful' in foreign languages.”
A similar phenomenon took place in another corporate advertising campaign.
Click “like” if you want to defend true marriage.
In July 2012, some had raised the possibility of boycotting Cheerios after General Mills announced its support for redefining marriage, opposing Minnesota's proposed constitutional marriage protection amendment. A few months later, the cereal giant said that a commercial featuring an interracial couple drew a large number of negative responses by the largely anonymous commenters on YouTube, including a threatened boycott. A second commercial featuring the interracial couple, which aired during the Super Bowl, produced no racist comments.
While the hashtag #BoycottCoke became a trending term on Twitter, and most discussion focused on language, most commentators focused on the power of a common language to unify all ethnic groups, rather than Balkanizing them.
One of the people who weighed in on the commercial's multilingual presentation was former Congressman Allen B. West. “I know the politically correct thing is to foster multiculturalism” – which he said in jest is “working really well in Europe” – but “we should remember the words spoken by President Teddy Roosevelt: 'Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country.'”
Radio talk show host Glenn Beck – who opposes laws against gay “marriage” and recently said he wanted no one who “hates” gay people to call themselves his fan – also weighed in on the ad. “Every leader of the European union that tried multiculturalism is now warning America and the rest of the world that tried multiculturalism doesn't work, you have to assimilate,” he said.
In addition to the ad promoting homosexual families, a Butterfinger commercial promoted “threesomes” as a way to spice up a marriage during Sunday's football championship.