So there is this Coke ad aired during the Superbowl that features some Tagalog words in a rendition of the American nationalist song “America the Beautiful”, specifically the words “Sa ibabaw ng mga prutas” (which translates to “Above the fruited plain” for those who speak American). Speaking of fruity plains, the ad also touted Coke as “the first advertiser to show a gay family in an ad for America’s big game.”
I wonder though if Filipinos who beamed with pride over the inclusion of a snippet of the national dialect in a mega-million-dollar budget ad caught the irony of it all. I mean, gay marriage or, for that matter, being gay per se remains quite the controversial “condition” many Filipinos regard it to be in their society. Considering that the fate of the country’s first-enacted reproductive health law (just months in effect armed with much-needed population control measures) is now being re-debated at the Philippine Supreme Court and, as such, is hanging by a thread staring at legal oblivion below it, the prospect of gay marriage ever being made legal in the Philippines is pure fantasy. And with the Philippines being predominantly Roman Catholic first, and Islamic a far second, there hangs on top of its society a dark gray cloud that will serve as a stark backdrop to any colourful extravaganza of what the free world has to offer to the billions of consumers of its addictive products.
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Coca Cola invented Santa Claus among other modern consumerist notions, and is as American as apple pie. But as a publicly-traded enterprise, its CEO is incentivised primarily on his ability to keep its shareholders happy, which means he needs to keep Coke revenues growing ad infinitum. For that to happen over the short-term (or until the company comes up with another killer product), he needs to get the rest of the world and its future generations hooked on Coke. Lucky for him, the Pepsi Generation was a pipe dream. The world remains pretty much Coke’s oyster owing to the unequaled taste and distribution reach of its flagship beverage, and this most recent ad will certainly reaffirm that fact.
Ho ho! For now, everyone is happy drinking Coca-Cola’s Kool Ade and getting all choked up watching its cinematically-brilliant ads. And, yes, America the “Great Satan” still remains The Beautiful and will likely remain so for generations to come. China, the world’s Islamic jihadists, and those Philippine Senators who presumed to rid the Philippines of its American military infestation in 1991 will have to deal with that reality.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
This Coca Cola ad and the Filipinos’ reaction to it just goes to show that the popular notion of “Pinoy pride” is really a no-brainer. Why be proud that “America the Beautiful” was sung in Filipino? Duh???…. I’m a bit confused here….
Filipinos will associate themselves with anything that mentions our people/country. That’s how desperate we are for attention. Problem is, many foreigners are getting the wrong signals about us being supremacists while these so-called “PINOY PRIDESMEN” don’t know the damage they are doing to their own people and country.
There is always the big debate of sin tax and nicotine and marijuana and alcohol. How harmful they are to the public at large. I used to be a soft-drink junkie. Coke/ Sprite. Specially Sprite since I could drink it at night without affecting my sleep. There was a time I had to had Sprite about 6 times a day. Then I started losing weight. Which for some people is a good thing. Make a long story short I was recommended a fasting blood sugar test and that reading was 243. Over twice the limit. Yes I blew out my pancreas.
I am not a big believer in artificial sweeteners either. So in this debate of big tobacco and hard liquor and legalizing of pot. There should be some discussion of Coke and Pepsi. Watch the movie Super Size Me.
With its 35mg of refined sugar per 12oz. Coke; drinking soft drinks is now considered by many Americans as a poor life style choice. No problem. Export it overseas and the obesity that goes along with it.
Only 18% of Americans still smoke cigarettes. No problem. Export Marlboro cigarettes to Asia and the lung cancer that goes along with it. Unfortunately, Filipinos are still smoking like fiends.
Coca-cola
Great for cleaning toilets and removing blood stains, but bad for diabetes and tooth rot.
Mcdonalds – That’s just good for throwing down the toilet.
America cr@ps on the world or exports cr@p.
If you can’t kill people with guns, do it with junk food.
Coca cola is now owned by guys coming from south of their border.
“Who knew that the Republican base was made up primarily of primal screaming bigots who, yesterday, got their undergarments in a sheepshank because Coca Cola ran an ad that suggested that a patriotic song could be translated into other languages?”
– Charles Pierce
That was a manufactured “sheepshank”. The liberals started striking out at imaginary detractors. The special interest groups are very good at creating controversies to react to.
The title says it all. Coke is one of the reasons for the pervasive obesity in the US. The company is also a big supporter to stop GMO labeling. I have boycotted all the company products including “Dasani” – purified water by distillation and UV lights.