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Americans not happy with Coke

Augmerson

Some* Yankee doodles were mighty pee'd off at the Coca Cola company for it's Super Bowl ad. The ad is heyor:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggzr0GxnPBU

What is pissing people off apparently is that this song (which is a very patriotic song, like seeing Fields of Athy to us) is being sung in languages other than English. You can hear Spanish amongst other languages - I can only guess what the other languages, maybe some Arabic too.

There was uproar that this song was sung in other languages. Real angry, ugly racist hatred. You could take a look at this Tumblr with some of the best Twitter posts to get an idea of the angry and hateful reaction some people had.

http://publicshaming.tumblr.com/post/75447787843/speak-english-racist-revolt-as-coca-cola-airs

I thought the ad was really nice. America to me has always been this melting pot of cultures. It wouldn't bother me if someone was singing our national anthem in another language (as it is, ashamedly I can't sing it now :l). Would it bother you?

* by some I mean not all and by not all I mean not everybody only some

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Killer Wench

There are a lot of friggen Americans angry at the narrow-mindedness and ignorance of these "outraged" Americans. Obviously, public education failed them.

So, let's not paint 300 million people with the same broad brush, k?

Killer Wench

SpaceTime wrote: »

Eh, remember the time they renamed French Fries "Freedom Fries" because the French wouldn't invade Iraq with them...

What was even funnier about it is the term French fries actually came from WWI when French speaking Belgians introduced them to "Pommes Frites" which were a traditional Belgian thing. US troops apparently though they were French hence the name "French Fries".

The French consider them an Americanism associated with McDonalds.
Calling them French Fries in the first place was probably a slur against French cuisine

It's like how the French call custard "English Cream" (creme anglaise)
There were people boycotting French's Mustard which is actually a US product and nothing to do with France at all.

I actually find the hostility displayed against the French in the US and sometimes in England is just utterly weird.
Particularly considering that the French even gave them the present of the Statue of Liberty.

They? Who is they? You mean one man in Congress who was outraged and wanted to propose a bill? You mean the small group of people who got behind him, right? Because if you mean "they" as in all Americans, you'd be inaccurate.

P_1

Narrow minded folk in saying silly thing on the internet shocker!

Honestly some folk's reactions towards Americans in general are akin to some lad sat in Boston who thinks that the Iona Institute represent the opinions of every single living person in Ireland.

MadsL

MJ23 wrote: »

What they don't realise, is that they're all immigrants, except for the natives, who are treated like shyt.
Silly nation.

"They" ? Who is they? There are plenty of people around me fully aware of the injustices.

Timmyctc wrote: »

I love how the Super Bowl champions are "Champions of the World" in the sport. But mention any country other than America and fcuk me you're a terrorist.

Not like the NFL would consider playing anywhere other than 'Merica eh? Oh wait.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000268789/article/six-nfl-teams-set-for-2014-international-series-games-in-london

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000291042/article/falcons-top-bills-in-toronto-snap-5game-skid

Frank Lee Midere

A melting pot would actual be an integrationist position as opposed to a multicultural stew.

MadsL

Funny how everyone missed out on the fact that Coke just became the first avertiser at the Superbowl to feature a gay family.

http://towleroad.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c730253ef01a73d6dd34b970d-800wi

Those rednecks huh?

aidoh

SpaceTime wrote: »

An English
Irish people actually have fewer problems in the US (unless you've a totally weird accent) as we pronounce H and R closer to US English. It's just that we also tend to use loads of words they don't understand.

Feck my gee Mr. President, it'll be grand.

SamAK

I've often wondered what Patriotism is all about.

I'm of the opinion that it's far too easy to be proud of what you're born into.

I'd rather be proud of what I achieve in my life, by merit...like something that I've worked really, really hard for.

This is not to say that I don't really appreciate many aspects of the Irish people and country. I just don't feel the need to defend it so vehemently, as a lot of Americans seem to do with their 'land of the free'. Patriotism over there seems to border on the fanatical at times!

Frank Lee Midere

MadsL wrote: »

Funny how everyone missed out on the fact that Coke just became the first avertiser at the Superbowl to feature a gay family.

http://towleroad.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c730253ef01a73d6dd34b970d-800wi

Those rednecks huh?

The thread is about the reaction to ads but not the ads. And probably not the first ever add anywhere to do this.

MadsL

Frank Lee Midere wrote: »

The thread is about the reaction to ads but not the ads. And probably not the first ever add anywhere to do this.

Orly?

This is the first ad to do this at a Superbowl.

Can you name an Irish advertiser who has done this? Or will that derail the thread which is really just to have a laugh about how backward Americans are?

SpaceTime

Killer Wench wrote: »

They? Who is they? You mean one man in Congress who was outraged and wanted to propose a bill? You mean the small group of people who got behind him, right? Because if you mean "they" as in all Americans, you'd be inaccurate.

It was portrayed that way in the media in France.

Fox News ran with it, then the French media picked up on it and thought next thing you know it was leading up to a major international sulk.
You'd swear every fast food joint was burning French fries in protest.

Like it or not, the guy was the chair of a fairly significant House Committee though. So, making crazy statements like that will get international attention.

It just came across as weird and petty.

Killer Wench

SpaceTime wrote: »

It was portrayed that way in the media in France.

Fox News ran with it, then the French media picked up on it and thought next thing you know it was leading up to a major international sulk.
You'd swear every fast food joint was burning French fries in protest.

Fox News ran with it because it was a Republican Representative who wanted the change. It was silly and petty and was the butt of many jokes at the time.

SpaceTime

Well the way it was interpreted in France (I was living there at the time) was extremely negative and it did actually cause a lot of bad feeling towards the states at the time.

They saw it as totally ridiculous, but it was filtering through as if people in the states were throwing French products into the trash.
There were threats of boycotts of French products and all sorts of scary stuff being mooted.
Most French people just felt like they were being bullied for exercising their democratic right not to go to war.

I'm just saying, whether the majority of Americans thought that way or not is irrelevant really. A very loud mouth conservative element of the US media spun the story and it got traction in France as if it were fact.

That kind of thing can actually damage international relations as things get transmitted and translated out of context.

I actually think there's an element of the ultra-religious movements that dislikes France because of its stance on secularism. Some very conservative christian groups don't particularly like that idea.

It's also an easy target as you can't really be accused of being 'racist' against the French for some reason.

Red Nissan

Our Year wrote: »

Edit: Whatever Coke marketers thought that was a good idea are a bit silly.

I guess we know who the ill fated Benetton Advertising agency has duped then. We know the Coca Cola Company is bigger than America, but this is just flaunting it.

Down with capitalism.

Killer Wench

SpaceTime wrote: »

Well the way it was interpreted in France (I was living there at the time) was extremely negative and it did actually cause a lot of bad feeling towards the states at the time.

They saw it as totally ridiculous, but it was filtering through as if people in the states were throwing French products into the trash.

There were threats of boycotts of French products and all sorts of scary stuff being mooted.

I hear what you're saying, and the essence of it is why I end up cringing whenever I read these types of threads. It's fun to paint the whole American population as being backwards, overly-patriotic, gun-toting, self-absorbed assholes but we are the third largest country population-wise and fourth largest land-size. Four different time zones, several regional dialects and thousands of ethnic identities. Add to that the fifty states and thousands of counties, and you have a very complex political and cultural set-up.

MadsL

SpaceTime wrote: »

It was portrayed that way in the media in France.

Fox News ran with it, then the French media picked up on it and thought next thing you know it was leading up to a major international sulk.
You'd swear every fast food joint was burning French fries in protest.

Like it or not, the guy was the chair of a fairly significant House Committee though. So, making crazy statements like that will get international attention.

It just came across as weird and petty.

Like renaming railway stations

SpaceTime

Killer Wench wrote: »

I hear what you're saying, and the essence of it is why I end up cringing whenever I read these types of threads. It's fun to paint the whole American population as being backwards, overly-patriotic, gun-toting, self-absorbed assholes but we are the third largest country population-wise and fourth population land-size. Four different time zones, several regional dialects and thousands of ethnic identities. Add to that the fifty states and thousands of counties, and you have a very complex political and cultural set-up.

I don't think that and I've spent a good bit of time there.

I actually think most French people understand that too in the sense that they know there's a big divide pretty much along the old civil war lines in terms of liberal vs conservative in the US.

From my own experience of the US, I felt a lot more 'at home' on the West Coast and the East Coast (as far as Miami and not going around into the south!) and some of the bigger cities in the older parts of the NE.

Even in the states you'd consider conservative, like say Georgia, Atlanta's actually quite liberal. Same goes for the large Texan cities.

I don't think there's a huge difference between say Ireland or Britain in 2014 and most of the New England / New York area in points of view. Similar kind of centrist outlook with the odd quirk here and there.

...

I'd actually say my biggest concern about the US is that the Republican Party has been completely overrun by rather unrepresentative extreme factions and it's squeezed a lot of people who I'd consider quite 'normal conservatives' out entirely by alienating them as they're not religious fundamentalists, nor do the stances on opposing gay rights, extreme views on abortion etc appeal to them. They're just old fashioned fiscal conservatives / economic liberals.

I think a lot of those people are just becoming turned off politics entirely as they won't necessarily vote Democrat either.

I get a bit fed up with the view that Americans aren't voting because they're 'lazy' / 'stupid'. When you're faced with two choices, neither of which is appealing and when politics is becoming more and more of a farce run by big business interests and extremists, it's a big turn off and you don't engage.

What I noticed over there a lot was people in the centre who were just fed up with all the crazy stuff coming from the right in particular and being amplified by the likes of Fox News and various radio shock jocks and other outlets. It was just leaving them a bit 'cold'.

Foxtrol

SpaceTime wrote: »

It was portrayed that way in the media in France.

Fox News ran with it, then the French media picked up on it and thought next thing you know it was leading up to a major international sulk.
You'd swear every fast food joint was burning French fries in protest.

Like it or not, the guy was the chair of a fairly significant House Committee though. So, making crazy statements like that will get international attention.

It just came across as weird and petty.

There were also calls in Ireland for the banning of French produce in Ireland in the aftermath of the Henry handball incident. We’re pretty blind/have short memories when it comes to idiots that hail from our shores.

Lyaiera

What's really insulting is this ad, along with the gay marriage ad is damage limitation for Coke's sponsorship of the Sochi Olympics. Coke is probably one of the biggest sponsors and advertisers for the Russian Olympics and they're taking an awful lot of **** about sponsoring the Olympics in a country where gay people are literally being beaten and murdered on the streets. So if they show a few happy clappy ads they can point at them and say, "Look! We're progessive!!"

MadsL

Lyaiera wrote: »

What's really insulting is this ad, along with the gay marriage ad is damage limitation for Coke's sponsorship of the Sochi Olympics. Coke is probably one of the biggest sponsors and advertisers for the Russian Olympics and they're taking an awful lot of **** about sponsoring the Olympics in a country where gay people are literally being beaten and murdered on the streets. So if they show a few happy clappy ads they can point at them and say, "Look! We're progessive!!"

Yeah, but they are in a Catch 22 there. They could boycott the Olympics in which case they give Pepsi a free ride...

Tough call.

This ad was pretty ballsy imho. The superbowl ads are generally pretty bro-tastic.

Donkey Oaty

MadsL wrote: »

Like renaming railway stations

Like Wilmington renaming itself after Joe Biden? Eh? You got a problem with that?

Eh?

/cocks legally-held assault rifle, while watching Fox News from corner of eye

Lyaiera

MadsL wrote: »

Yeah, but they are in a Catch 22 there. They could boycott the Olympics in which case they give Pepsi a free ride...

Tough call.

This ad was pretty ballsy imho. The superbowl ads are generally pretty bro-tastic.

When the choice is lose some money or support a nation of bigots, especially at that level I know where I'd be putting my money. Of course that's why I'm not a CEO of an MNC. I still wouldn't put it past them to have even more of these types of ads lined up for the Olympics coverage, and that will mitigate it a bit more if they keep going with these. Some form of corporate protest.

MadsL

Lyaiera wrote: »

When the choice is lose some money or support a nation of bigots, especially at that level I know where I'd be putting my money. Of course that's why I'm not a CEO of an MNC. I still wouldn't put it past them to have even more of these types of ads lined up for the Olympics coverage, and that will mitigate it a bit more if they keep going with these. Some form of corporate protest.

I'd actually love to see that, but those ads would only be seen in the States so kinda pointless.

P_1

What's the story with the renaming of the railway station?

Donkey Oaty

P_1 wrote: »

What's the story with the renaming of the railway station?

From irrs.ie:

In 1966, CIÉ renamed its fifteen principal railway stations in honour of the executed leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising: Heuston (formerly Kingsbridge), Connolly (Amiens Street), Pearse (Westland Row), Ceannt (Galway), Colbert (Limerick), Casement (Tralee), Kent (Cork), Clarke (Dundalk), MacBride (Drogheda), MacDiarmada (Sligo), McDonagh (Kilkenny), Plunkett (Waterford), O'Hanrahan (Wexford), Daly (Bray) and Malin (Dún Laoghaire).

Gummy Panda

P_1 wrote: »

What's the story with the renaming of the railway station?

A lot of railway stations were renamed in 60s using names from easter rising

Davidius

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFaEsP3fzw4

At least it doesn't have any words.

Call Me Jimmy

I love the 'your dumb's

MadsL

Donkey Oaty wrote: »

Like Wilmington renaming itself after Joe Biden? Eh? You got a problem with that?

No I don't.

Nor do I have any issue with renaming things if you wish. Go ahead and call French Fries Freedom Fries if you wish. Just makes it easier to spot the idiots. I'll be here eating some "Liberty Cabbage" on my hotdog.

Capt'n Midnight

if they aren't happy with coke they can always get a sodastream

http://www.ibtimes.com/sodastream-scarjo-backlash-banned-super-bowl-ad-hype-overshadowed-oxfam-controversy-1552635

Oxfam International, which opposes all trade from Israeli settlements. SodaStream, as it happens, has its main manufacturing plant in a West Bank settlement seized during the Six-Day War in 1967. Amid escalating criticism and a clear conflict of allegiances over a highly polarized and sensitive issue, Johansson on Thursday ended her relationship with Oxfam, with both the actress and the group acknowledging the conflict of interest: