So, apprently a Super Bowl 48 commercial is pissing people off...

[renegade7]

So will these same Americans stop singing 'Silent Night' and 'Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree' at Christmas then, if a song is only allowed to be sung in the original language?

No, because Jesus was a white American who spoke English, so any Christmas songs should also be sung in English.

Also, speaking of American patriotism, I would like to point out the sheer number of idiots complaining about lack of American-ness while saying that America the Beautiful is the national anthem. It isn't. Please know a few basic facts about your own country before deciding who belongs in it.

I just wonder why these "patriots" don't take some pride in the fact that, of all the places in the world people from other countries could go to in order to pursue a more successful life, people are choosing to come here. A big reason that the US is beginning to fall behind is because we're scaring off talent from other countries with attitudes like that espoused in the reaction to this commercial.

Finally, in closing, instead of bitching about the fact that other people don't speak English, why don't you take some initiative and learn another country's language? People who learn multiple languages consistently make more money, are more intelligent, and are regarded as cooler and more attractive. Not to mention you'll have fewer problems with communicating with non-native English speakers.

 

[LaughingAtlas]

The uproar is how 'that song shouldn't be sung in anything other then English and singing it like this is unAmerican'

You want something unAmerican? How about that?


Now excuse me while I try to get away from the angry mob.

That, sir, was awesome. The song was awesome and your profile picture is awesome.

Spoiler: Keep being awesome!

[http://media.photobucket.com/user/chrome235/media/thumbs_up.jpg.html]

OT: Bah, people being silly again. Let them wear their Dr. Seuss hats and move on to whatever the next 'society destroying outrage' or whatever is next week.

 

[viranimus]

I think as an American I am more pissed at how many Americans are pissed off because they think it is sacrilegious to desecrate the national Anthem. Completely oblivious to the fact it ISN'T the national anthem.

 

[llamastorm.games]

It's a pretty British and American thing to demand that everyone speak English. Go to nearly any other country in the world and in different areas they speak a completely different language.
Many countries have 2 or more official languages...

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Does the concept of being "Un-your country" even exist outside America? I've never heard of someone being un-Irish. Are they seriously saying that if you don't act a particular way you aren't an American? That sounds like some dictatorship style crap "Do as we do or you aren't welcome."

The concept of cultural identity is nearly universal. From the macro nationalistic scale to individual households.

Un-American is just a phrase we use. Other nations say it in different ways. Americans do seem to have the louder mouth in media though, so perhaps that's why you hear us more than others.

The United States has no official language, therefore this is fair game. Hating on this actually pretty unamerican, damn communist pretending to Americans!

80% of the US speak English as the first language. It is the de facto national language whether legally recognized or not.

I'd say this is fair game because we're mostly a nation of immigrants. Sure, my family fought the British on American soil, but a couple centuries is a relatively short time compared to most other nations.

yeah gotta agree with this a bit here. Communication is key in everyday life, and not having some standard form of communication makes things much more difficult, I mean, imagine if math was different in every language...that'd be one hell of a headache.

If I moved out of america to a different country, I would more than expect myself to pick up their native language to do just about anything, so I don't find it that hard that if someone wants to move here, that they adopt the dialect spoken here, which as pointed out, is american-english (don't even start on american-english vs english-english, good god the elitism in that is astounding).

I can speak some spanish personally, pretty muddled though as alot of the spanish in our area is different from one another, but I can speak enough deutsch to get around town if I need to (learned it in high school). The reason why people don't learn more languages in america is due to the boiling pot effect, you learn a language in a class...AND THEN NEVER USE IT AGAIN. Hollywood/America has such a huge entertainment/media industry that it is hard to ever use another language unless you are around others constantly that speak it, which in my case, is very few if any speak deutsch in my area.

with all that being said though, I found the commercial beautiful and didn't mind it in the slightest that they spoke multiple languages in it, and it doesn't bother me in the slightest when people have conversations in public in different languages, I'm all for learning more languages, it just sucks because there is little chance to use any of it in this melting pot culture.

 

[Amir Kondori]

People like to pat themselves on the back and say "Look how forward thinking and progressive I am, not like those racists complaining" while the video has a greater like to dislike ratio than most videos on Youtube.

People are blowing this way out of proportion, most people have NOT expressed pique with the video.

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

All I'm saying is that the only really American language are the ones spoken by native Americans.

Yes, just like the only British language is whatever language humans first took there around 10,000 years ago, and how the only central Italian language is Latin.

 

[Icehearted]

This will be thorny, no matter how it's approached.

Anecdotal experience; most legal emigrants resent illegals, especially for not bothering to become more associated with this country, including learning customs, the language, the history, etc. If I moved to Korea or Germany, I wouldn't have an entitled attitude about how I should be accommodated by them in their own land. Likewise I think that the language of America is primarily English, ironically a lot of it is made of other languages, but American English, in and of itself apparently complex to even our own natively born citizens, is the language. I don't mind concessions, I'm all for diversity, this doesn't offend me, even if the implication is a bit offensive, especially given how other countries thump terms like "sovereignty" on the table whenever America wants to step into things. I mind that people I know were passed up on jobs in America because they didn't speak Spanish or Vietnamese s well as English, and were talking local service and support jobs for companies like ATT and local cable networks.

America is made of immigrants and their descendants, which is what used to make this country uniquely appealing and you can see this all over our map, but if you're choosing to be American why not embrace our ways rather than expect others to accommodate yours?

Pardon my thorns.

 

[lord.jeff]

So this week's nontroversy is that the internet has racists. This is just a business move to get a bunch of "progressive thinkers" to by Cola because suck it to the small handfull of idiotic strangers on the internet.

 

[TheRookie8]

To put it bluntly, there is nothing offensive about the video itself. As it stands, it is a creative twist taken on a traditional song celebrated by the citizens of the country the song represents. The key to this issue lies in the subtext.

Some are bothered by the political arguments regarding the issues of race & immigration, for either economic or nationalistic reasons. Some view such advertisements as a play to garner sympathy those those pushing forward diversity on a linguistic level. Whatever your stance on the issue, both sides present valid points, such as: Do we celebrate America in our own unique, cultural ways, or do we promote a single, unified language to promote more effective communication and break down boundaries? The subtext for debate is always there, and requires an open mind.

Personally, I enjoyed the music. It was nice.

 

[Lunar Templar]

XD,

I approve of this, so very much.

That, sir, was awesome. The song was awesome and your profile picture is awesome.

Spoiler: Keep being awesome!

[http://media.photobucket.com/user/chrome235/media/thumbs_up.jpg.html]

I find the lack of torch and pitchfork wielding patriots disturbing.

THANKS OBAMA!

I think your on the wrong site if your looking for 'pitchfork and torch wielding patriots'

Besides, I would hardly conciser some one that gets offended by ether this commercial or that video you posted a patriot.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

The only thing wrong here is that you've mistaken 'intolerant dickheads' for 'people'.

 

[-Dragmire-]

America has always been a country of immigrants.

I thought that was our thing...

what american country isn't a potpourri of immigrants =P
hell, here in Argentina it's all germans, spaniards, portuguese and italians

OT:

Spoiler: let's not forget that the backlash also provided us with some real gems

I laughed, then felt sad. I get the strong feeling that that's not satire.

There are many types of people in the world. At times like this, it comforts me that I won't ever meet most of them.

 

[Aris Khandr]

This will be thorny, no matter how it's approached.

Anecdotal experience; most legal emigrants resent illegals, especially for not bothering to become more associated with this country, including learning customs, the language, the history, etc. If I moved to Korea or Germany, I wouldn't have an entitled attitude about how I should be accommodated by them in their own land. Likewise I think that the language of America is primarily English, ironically a lot of it is made of other languages, but American English, in and of itself apparently complex to even our own natively born citizens, is the language. I don't mind concessions, I'm all for diversity, this doesn't offend me, even if the implication is a bit offensive, especially given how other countries thump terms like "sovereignty" on the table whenever America wants to step into things. I mind that people I know were passed up on jobs in America because they didn't speak Spanish or Vietnamese s well as English, and were talking local service and support jobs for companies like ATT and local cable networks.

America is made of immigrants and their descendants, which is what used to make this country uniquely appealing and you can see this all over our map, but if you're choosing to be American why not embrace our ways rather than expect others to accommodate yours?

Pardon my thorns.

The difference between your examples (Germany and South Korea) and the United States is that the US does not have an official language. English may be the lingua franca, but it is not official. This isn't an oversight, the idea has been brought up and rejected several times. The idea that someone is less American because they can't speak English is FAR more un-American.

 

[Maxtro]

The problem is that people are lazy and are perfectly fine not learning English and it's not socially acceptable to require them to.

Apart from the fact that you personally speak English, what makes other people not learning English "lazy", and you not learning other languages "okay"?

I think you forgot the part that I live in a country where the commonly accepted language is English. There should be no reason for me to learn another language as long as I only live in countries where English is the commonly accepted language.

If I were to move to Germany for some reason, I should learn to speak German, or else I would be guilty of being lazy.

Just in case it's not clear, my issue is people who move into a country where a different language is spoken, and refuse to learn the language of that country.

 

[mrdude2010]

America is made up of millions of people from different cultures. Hell, our national language was nearly German because we had so many Dutch immigrants (currently, we don't have a national language for that precise reason). I honestly don't understand people being upset about it. I'm guessing it's a knee-jerk reaction to change.

 

[Aris Khandr]

I think you forgot the part that I live in a country where the commonly accepted language is English. There should be no reason for me to learn another language as long as I only live in countries where English is the commonly accepted language.

If you have to physically search a store to find someone who speaks English, that might suggest that the language is less commonly accepted than you think, at least in the area you are in. And that it might be a good idea to pick up some of the common language yourself. It isn't as though learning a second (or third, or fourth) language could ever possibly hurt you.

 

[mrdude2010]

The problem is that people are lazy and are perfectly fine not learning English and it's not socially acceptable to require them to.

Apart from the fact that you personally speak English, what makes other people not learning English "lazy", and you not learning other languages "okay"?

I think you forgot the part that I live in a country where the commonly accepted language is English. There should be no reason for me to learn another language as long as I only live in countries where English is the commonly accepted language.

If I were to move to Germany for some reason, I should learn to speak German, or else I would be guilty of being lazy.

Just in case it's not clear, my issue is people who move into a country where a different language is spoken, and refuse to learn the language of that country.

What if multiple languages are spoken in that country? What if that country doesn't even have a national language? What if they can function perfectly well without learning English?

 

[NiPah]

It's a fucking Coke commercial, it's meant to sell some sugar laden drink with caffeine in it.
Oh no, some idiots with misguided patriotism are raising a stink about it! Quick let's remind them that Native Americans were here first, I'm sure they give a shit about that! (Most don't, face it most of our understanding of their point of view is just as false as their understanding of our own).
Oh hey to top it all off most people who played in this game will have early onset dementia or Alzheimer's due to the numerous concussions they've received (I wonder how many they had in this game alone? Football!).

Look I'm all for hating bigots, but when a topic comes up like this and you get 4 pages of people bashing some idiots then it's just sad.