Even though I have zero understanding for football, I always watch the Super Bowl. Why? Oh come on, silly! For the commercials!
It was all fine and dandy Sunday evening. Some of the commercials were really good and some were a bit mediocre and then there was the Coca Cola commercial. America the Beautiful, sung in different languages.
That bothered me. It obviously bothered not only me, but lots of other people too. Since everyone is entitled to their own opinions and this is only the truth as I see it, here is my take on the subject.
According to what I could find, there really isn't a national language in this country, the U.S.A., but 80% of the people who live here speak English. To me that is an important number, it means I can communicate with at least 80% of the people. I think knowing a different language is a wonderful thing. If I had the resources, I would buy a couple of Rosetta Stone programs and do my best at learning a different tongue. When it comes down to getting something done though, it sure makes things a lot easier if we can all understand each other.
Yes, this country is made up of many peoples from many different backgrounds and cultures. It's been called the "melting pot" of the world. All of our "flavors" meld together, season each other. We give and take and come out with a product that has been a shining beacon for those who wish to make this land their land too.
The following is taken from an article written by Nikki Johnson-Huston. The date of the article is September 9, 2012 and she wrote it after speaking at a naturalization ceremony to welcome 69 new people from 33 different nations to this country. She speaks about the privilege of being born in this country and how many of us take that for granted.
"You all gave up an existing life, maybe even a good life in your home country for the possibility of something greater, for a better life for you and your family, unlimited opportunities for your children, or maybe a place where you could peacefully live the way you wanted to live..........As fellow Americans, I urge you to think of these words as not only history and nostalgia, but also a call to take action in your own lives as a part of this democracy. The lives you now begin as citizens of the United States of America. May God bless you in your own pursuit of the American Dream, and may God bless the United States of America."
It was written in English and I assume it was spoken in English.
The American Dream. That brings me to the title of today's blog.
Coca Cola was born in this country and it was made great in this country. Coca Cola is now in over 200 countries worldwide and people, on average, consume 1.8 billion Coca Cola beverages each day.
The Coca Cola company is worth over $78 billion. In 2010 its $35.1 billion in revenues made it the 84th largest economy in the world.
Coca Cola sells more than 1000 kinds of juice drinks under many different names and labels.
Americans alone ingest about 1.7 million tons of sugar, 10.8 pounds per person, per year, just from drinking Coca Cola. We all know the effects too much sugar has on our bodies, but guess what? Coca Cola doesn't care.
Mexico is seeing a large increase in obesity. Part of the reason for that is the introduction of processed foods into their country. Coca Cola is HUGE in Mexico. On average, Mexicans drink 665 servings of Coke products each year. That's a lot of sugar. Coke also sells a ton of bottled water in Mexico. In a recent article from our daily newspaper it seems Coca Cola would rather sell them water than to help fix their water problems.
In 2010 Coca Cola had an advertising budget of $2.9 billion and I would guess, three years later, it's bigger than that.
Their advertising staff had to know that the commercial would upset a lot of people. That it would be seen as disrespectful to a large portion of the older population in this country. That it would ruffle many a feather. But, guess what?......again....
They didn't care.
Coca Cola is so large and vast that they simply do not have to worry about insulting anyone. If everyone here would stop buying their products, and that certainly won't happen, it would just be a drop in their ocean sized bucket.
Economic times are tough, many of us struggle just trying to make ends meets. Having billions of dollars doesn't make you the sharpest crayon in the box, nor does it give you the right to disrespect anyone and that is why there will be no more Coke products for me.
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