Coca Cola's Super Bowl commercial featuring a multilingual rendition of "America the Beautiful" was refreshing to many - but left a bitter taste in the mouth of conservative pundits.
The one-minute ad called "It's beautiful" - in which the patriotic standard is sung in seven different languages - was meant to showcase the country's "incredible diversity," in the words of the soft drink company.
But radio host Glenn Beck told his listeners Monday that the ad is selling a divided America.
"So somebody tweeted last night and said, 'Glenn, what did you think of the Coke ad?,' Beck said in a segment flagged by Buzzfeed.
"And I said, 'Why did you need that to divide us politically?' Because that's all this ad is. It's in your face, and if you don't like it, if you're offended by it, you're a racist. If you do like it, you're for immigration. You're for progress. That's all this is: to divide people."
Coca Cola's brand of cultural inclusiveness was tough for Beck to swallow.
"Every leader of the European union that tried multiculturalism is now warning America and the rest of the world that tried multiculturalism doesn't work, you have to assimilate," he added.
Fox News' Todd Starnes didn't exactly want to buy the world a Coke, either, tweeting:
Coca-Cola
Couldn't make out that song they were singing. I only speak English. - toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) February 3, 2014
RELATED: CELEBRITIES HIT THE 'SPOT' WITH SUPER BOWL TV ADSSo was Coca-Cola saying America is beautiful because new immigrants don't learn to speak English? - toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) February 3, 2014
Coca Cola is the official soft drink of illegals crossing the border. #americaisbeautiful - toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) February 3, 2014
The commercial spot dredged up multiple hot-button issues for right wingers - the ongoing debate over the codification of English as the primary language in the U.S., immigration reform and the acceptance of same sex relationships in mainstream media. In one quickly glimpsed scene, two men, clearly a couple, embrace smiling.
Former GOP Rep. Allen West, another Fox News contributor, warned that the ad from a "company as American as they come" is a sign that "we are on the road to perdition."
"Executives at Coca Cola thought it was a good idea to run a 60 second Super Bowl ad featuring children singing "America the Beautiful" - a deeply Christian patriotic anthem whose theme is unity - in several foreign languages," wrote Brietbart.com's Michael Patrick Leahy.
"The ad also prominently features a gay couple."
Armchair critics took to Coca Cola's Facebook page and Twitter to denounce the ad and vow boycotts.
"Nice to see that coke likes to sing an AMERICAN song in the terrorist's language. Way to go coke. You can leave America," tweeted one disgruntled viewer.
Many other commentators, however, lauded Coca Cola for the embracing the ideal of the United States as a melting pot.
Moble users can click here to see the commercial.
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