General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Sweet! "Coca Cola-It's Beautiful-Behind the Scenes" [View all]zazen
(2,978 posts)And it whitewashes their labor and environmental rights abuses in South America.
There's also a subtle Horatio Alger "if I only work hard enough and get enough education I can have the American dream" message, which makes systemic economic privilege and racism more difficult to combat.
Having said that, I do believe the perfect is the enemy of the good. First, that Coca Cola could and would make a commercial like this is a testament to how hard activists have worked before them to make these conversations acceptable enough to 50% of the population that Coke would risk pissing off the other half.
Second, they're certainly going in the right direction, and even though it's sad that our national conversation is led by 60 minute commercials instead of widespread literacy you even saw with dirt farmers in the 19th century, it's an improvement and an effort at redemption. And I gotta appreciate that. And the obvious sincerity of the people in the commercial.