Respond: Lebanon Daily News, Coca-Cola’s multilingual “America” ad didn’t hit any wrong notes
RESPOND •
1. As this editorial acknowledges, it is making two arguments simultaneously, one about what makes a commercial successful and one about what makes a country successful — or doesn’t. Summarize each as a definitional argument. (See Chapter 9 for more on definitional arguments.) What role, if any, does or might language play in this second argument? Why or how?
2. Watch a video related to this commercial, “Coca-Cola — It’s Beautiful — Behind the Scenes.” How does this second video provide additional background or context for the first? Do you imagine that critics of the original ad also viewed this second video? What do you think their response would have been? Why? Did it change your response to the first video? If so, in what ways?
3. One of the most interesting aspects of this editorial is its use of language, particularly informal language that one might associate with humor and even mockery and that might not be appropriate in many contexts. Make a list of these uses, and be prepared to explain what function they serve in creating the tone of the editorial and in supporting its argument. (Chapter 13 discusses style in arguments.)
4. The controversy about the Coca-Cola Super Bowl commercial focuses on the uses of languages other than English, particularly in a song associated specifically with the United States. While it is not uncommon for a certain strand of conservatives to object to the use of languages other than English in public life, their complaint in such cases is usually that they cannot understand what is being said. In this case, since all the critics know the lyrics to this song by heart, the issue cannot be that they do not understand the meaning of what is being sung even though they likely cannot understand the words themselves. What, then, do you imagine the basis for the complaints was? Were the complaints about language, or was language a symbol for other things? What other things? Why does language have this power?
5. The Coca-Cola Super Bowl commercial is memorable for many reasons. Write an analysis of this advertisement as a multimedia argument. (See Chapter 16 for information on multimedia arguments and analyses of them.)