Coca-Cola’s social media outlets have been inundated with racist posts from angry sports fans following its Super Bowl advert which celebrates homosexual and multicultural lifestyles to the tune “America the Beautiful”.
The patriotic song is played in eight different languages over video clips of Americans enjoying Coca-Cola, including two fathers roller-skating with their daughter and women wearing hijabs, News.com.au reports.
Super Bowl advertising slots are traditionally a prestige launch pad for new advertising campaigns as the sport event is frequently the most watched American television broadcast on an annual basis.
Examples of posts shared on the Coca-Cola facebook page included:
"Nice to see that Coke likes to sing an AMERICAN song in the terrorist's language. Way to go Coke. You can leave America," and "Screwed up a beautiful song. No Coke for my family."
The Tri-Country Congregational Church in Minnesota also got in on the action proclaiming: "Today we are throwing away all our Coca-Cola products and replacing them with Faygo. Faygo represents Christian Values and follows the Constitution. Mexicans singing the National Anthem is an abomination."
Coke have issued no apologies for the inclusive advertisement and instead have announced plans to air a 90 second version of the piece during the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics which will take place in Russia this year – a nation that recently passed a spate of anti-gay laws.
“‘It’s Beautiful’ is exactly what Coca-Cola is all about: celebrating the diversity that makes this country great and the fact that anyone can thrive here and be happy,” said Katie Bayne, president, North America Brands,Coca-Cola.
“We hope the ad gets people talking and thinking about what it means to be proud to be American.”
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