Coca-Cola’s Racist Super Bowl Ad

Well, it can’t be all-Kimberlin, all-the-time, can it?  Last Sunday while the Brocos were getting pantsed before the entire world, Coke ran this ad and started a controversy:

Some conservatives didn’t like what they saw as a push for amnesty, and that may or may not be part of the agenda.  But I saw something else: I saw what seemed to be pretty clear racism.

Let’s review shall we?  First we see this kind of image...

And you see a white girl next blowing bubbles…  and at that point the song is in English.  And then you start to see Hispanic-looking* folks:

…and suddenly they are playing a foreign language, most likely Spanish.  And then a bunch of other mainly non-whites are on screen and then it’s back to white people and back to English:

And then it leads to one of the few times where we see non-whites on screen as the song is sung in English:

Oh, and here’s another exception.  A pair of white Jews having a foreign language (Hebrew, I guess), run over their image:

We’ll get back to that in a moment.

So in other words, it is for the most part playing it in English when white people are on the screen, and playing it in some other language when non-whites are on screen.

And yes, it comes off as pretty racist to me.  After all, there are certain Americans who are stereotyped as “perpetual foreigners.”  I talked about this when our President said he could figure out who was an immigrant just by looking at them, and quoted from a post on the subject that explained this insidious attitude:

No matter how long they or their families have lived in the country, they are still not seen as True Americans, they are still seen as foreigners. That is why people are surprised at how good their English is and ask them, “Where are you really from?” – where New Jersey does not count as an answer.

And even one of the exceptions is pretty damning, too.  As noted in this Jewish Journal article, there is an increasing tendency to view Jewish people has having a “dual loyalty” divided between whatever country they live in, and Israel.

Seriously, if the purpose of the ad was to celebrate the many cultures and ethnicities that make up America, then why treat every white person—except the Joooos—as “just white?”  Why not play the song in Italian, or Gaelic, or German and show some white folks who aren’t Jewish?  Why is it only the non-white, non-Jews who are seen as having a different language and culture?

Is this intentionally racist?  I doubt in a million years Coca-Cola would dare make an intentionally racist ad.  But in the process of them attempting to seem “multicultural” they outted some of the racist assumptions that underlie their worldview.

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* I am really quite awful at guessing a person’s ethnicity just by looking at them, mostly because I profoundly don’t care what your race or ethnicity is.

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My wife and I have lost our jobs due to the harassment of convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin, including an attempt to get us killed and to frame me for a crime carrying a sentence of up to ten years.  I know that claim sounds fantastic, but if you read starting here, you will see absolute proof of these claims using documentary and video evidence.  If you would like to help in the fight to hold Mr. Kimberlin accountable, please hit the donation link on the right.  And thank you.

Follow me at Twitter @aaronworthing, mostly for snark and site updates.  And you can purchase my book (or borrow it for free if you have Amazon Prime), Archangel: A Novel of Alternate, Recent History here.  And you can read a little more about my novel, here.

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Disclaimer:

I have accused some people, particularly Brett Kimberlin, of reprehensible conduct.  In some cases, the conduct is even criminal.  In all cases, the only justice I want is through the appropriate legal process—such as the criminal justice system.  I do not want to see vigilante violence against any person or any threat of such violence.  This kind of conduct is not only morally wrong, but it is counter-productive.

In the particular case of Brett Kimberlin, I do not want you to even contact him.  Do not call him.  Do not write him a letter.  Do not write him an email.  Do not text-message him.  Do not engage in any kind of directed communication.  I say this in part because under Maryland law, that can quickly become harassment and I don’t want that to happen to him.

And for that matter, don’t go on his property.  Don’t sneak around and try to photograph him.  Frankly try not to even be within his field of vision.  Your behavior could quickly cross the line into harassment in that way too (not to mention trespass and other concerns).

And do not contact his organizations, either.  And most of all, leave his family alone.

The only exception to all that is that if you are reporting on this, there is of course nothing wrong with contacting him for things like his official response to any stories you might report.  And even then if he tells you to stop contacting him, obey that request.  That this is a key element in making out a harassment claim under Maryland law—that a person asks you to stop and you refuse.

And let me say something else.  In my heart of hearts, I don’t believe that any person supporting me has done any of the above.  But if any of you have, stop it, and if you haven’t don’t start.