      Coca-Cola has always been notorious for their polar bear ads, but as of recent the company has shifted to a much broader audience. In the most recent commercial the company has put out, the main focus is now shifted to the minorities in the United States in hopes that their product will become more notorious with unity. Especially in todays United States, unity and togetherness plays a crucial role in our society. Over the past few years there has been an increase of people fighting for equality and acceptance by marching in protest. The fight for equal pay, free sexuality, LGBTQ rights, and many more are just a few of the things Americans have fought for in today’s society. The most recent being the Women’s March that took place across the country after Donald Trump was inaugurated. It has been evident that major companies have taken notice of this and advertising has become more cultured and is no longer based on the cookie cutter suburban family. Coca-Cola has noticed these recent trends in the past few years and has shifted their advertising focus more towards minorities and other people besides your typical white family that you used to see. Recently they have released one of the most powerful commercials of the entire year. It is only a minute long but the message of the ad will leave a greater impact and will have you thinking about our society and what it means to include someone and what it means to be an American. Coca-Cola suggests in their ad that America can unite and leave their differences behind if everyone just drinks a bottle of coke. 

     To start off, Coca-Cola is showing us as Americans that we need to accept people for the way they are no matter their age, gender, race, sexuality, or wealth. This commercial is bigger than just buying a bottle of coke, this commercial is a call to action, yelling “Hey America wake up you are all here to live a life in the pursuit of happiness!” it is time that Americans put aside their differences and start to respect each other for who we are. In the commercial the viewer sees many different types of Americans citizens all over the United States just living their everyday lives the way they want to. This ad includes a Hispanic family, African family, a White family, Middle Eastern family, a Jewish family, and a Asian family. Coca-Cola did a great job of incorporating as many different kinds of people in this commercial in order to touch the hearts of everyone in this country. In the background America the Beautiful is being sung by many people in a multitude of languages. The languages correspond with the persons demographic that they are showing in the ad. They start out with an English verse of the song and then switch to another language, at this point the viewer starts to understand the message. The commercial continues to switch from English to a new language. This adds a great amount of impact and targets the viewer’s pathos. This ad will affect every American in a certain way, for better or for worse unfortunately. It has always created a big controversy with many Americans due to the fact that America the Beautiful is not being sung entirely in English. But the visuals really speak to the viewer and Coca-Cola is asking the viewer to put aside their views for a minute and just watch this video with an open heart. That way the viewer can feel compassion with all the people shown and accept that these people are Americans even though they don’t look like your stereotypical American. This ad truly speaks to the ethos of Coca-Cola and what their message as a brand is. Their message is bigger than just have a coke to increase our profits, they want to change the America for the better and this commercial speaks to that message.

     The audience for this ad is mainly minorities in the United States. Between the visual evidence of many different types of people shown in the ad to the music playing in the background it all centers around the fact that America is a diverse melting pot. Coca-Cola has shifted towards this view point for a few years now and they have come to realize that their audience is no longer the typical suburban family and that their message is much greater than their product. To a person who is of a minority watching this ad it could elicit great happiness, hope, prosperity, and freedom in their life because they no longer feel excluded in this country. This commercial is perfect in today’s society because the fight for minority equality and acceptance has really picked up in the past few years and for a giant corporation to stand behind this message really is a powerful statement and gives the argument value and substance. This commercial began to air in August of 2016 and at that time there was a lot of controversy in this country and someone needed to take a stand. Coca-Cola put out this ad and had a powerful argument to it and the country took notice mostly in a positive way and some in a negative way. Another powerful thing about this ad is that reality has not been altered in any way. The commercial shows real Americans living their everyday lives and enjoying the freedom of being in the United States. All the participants in this commercial are smiling. That image gives a powerful backing to the argument Coca-Cola makes because it shows that even though you are a minority here you still belong in this country and you are accepted here.

     Coca-Cola uses a multitude of rhetorical appeals in order to drive home the main argument of this add. Coca-Cola makes a name for themselves with this ad as an advocate for equality and unity. The ethos of the company shows throughout the commercial because of the message that they portray in the ad. They speak for the millions of voices that go unheard and they recognize their power, and instead of creating an ad based solely on their product they create one where they put the audience first. The logos of this ad is based on the fact that the minorities in this country are just as American as the people born in the United States. With the addition of the music in the background this point is really driven home during the whole ad. The feeling the viewer gets when watching this can bring chills to a person’s skin. To the right audience, this can give them hope that their future in this country will be better. It is no longer about the product, but instead it is about the emotion of the audience. Coca-Cola recognizes that as one of the most well-known companies in the world they hold a great power and the way they target the audience’s emotions speaks to the pathos of this argument. 

     In conclusion, Coca-Cola is taking a step in the right direction by speaking for those who simply cannot. In the future many companies will follow suit when they see how powerful their argument is and how much it can affect the American society. However, there is a big issue with this ad. America the Beautiful was written in 1893 and has quickly become the Americas song. The song should not be sung in any language besides English, there is not an issue with who sings it but there is a big issue with the language that it is sung. This is the United States of America and we are made up of a multitude of people but we are a country that speaks English and singing America the Beautiful in any other language but English is disrespectful. I see Coca-Colas point in adding different languages, but I think it tarnishes the history of America. Besides that small detail Coca-Cola does an excellent job of presenting the argument that America needs to unite and become one. At the end of the commercial they add the sentence “Together is beautiful” which really drives home their point and leaves the viewer wanting to do something to bring our country closer. This commercial will shape the future of how companies will create ads and America will soon see big corporations fighting for equality in order to appeal to the minorities in this country.   