Coca Cola Changes Mind Airs Gay Family Commercial at Super Bowl



Coca-Cola broke new ground on Sunday night when it aired the first Super Bowl ad featuring a family led by a gay couple. The ad, titled “It’s Beautiful,” features a rendition of “America the Beautiful” sung in different languages as the camera pans through diverse racial and ethnic communities.
“The only thing more beautiful than this country are the people who live here,” reads a statement on the commercial’s YouTube page. “Watch and discover why #AmericaIsBeautiful.”
The soft-drink corporation posted online a five-minute behind-the-scenes special that includes interviews with the participants, including the gay dads and their kids. “”Today I see people asking us to hold hands, people embracing us as a family and respecting us,” one of the men tells the camera.”
Coca-Cola sochiWhile the ad is certainly a positive one, it’s not likely to garner kudos on either side of the political spectrum. In fact, xenophobes have already begun voicing their disdain on social media: “THE Worst commercial all night. Never drinking Coke again,” wrote one commenter. “Hey @CocaCola this is America. We speak English. Quit slapping real Americans in the face with your offensive commercials. #BoycottCoke”tweeted another.
Many in the LGBT community, meanwhile, are angry at Coke for being a major sponsor of the Winter Olympics in Sochi while Russia still enforces anti-gay laws.
Dan Savage tweeted: “Love your endorsement of diversity and tolerance in the USA, @CocaCola—how about some support for Russian LGBT people? #CheersToSochi”
 The #CheersToSochi hashtag was originated by McDonald’s but was overtaken by activists hoping to draw attention to the fast-food company’s responsibility to Russia’s LGBT community.
The “It’s Beautiful” ad will run again during the Opening Ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics.
On Friday, GLAAD and dozens of other organizations called on Olympic sponsors out against the violence, discrimination and laws targeting Russia’s LGBT citizens

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