Super Bowl

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Coke Should Air 50-Year-Old Ad for Super Bowl

“I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony.”

Remember that song?  Remember that commercial?

You would have to be of a certain older age to answer yes to those questions.

The most famous Coca-Cola ad of all time was the 1971 “hilltop” spot with the song “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing.” 

For those too young, go find it on YouTube.  You’ll see people of all nationalities coming together on top of a hill to sing the praises of the soda along with a simple message of people around the world getting along with one another despite our differences.

When Coca-Cola first aired it in 1971, I was at the cusp of adolescence.  Every time I saw it on TV, I rolled my eyes thinking to myself, “How corny and hokey.” 

Now looking at it these days in my advanced years, I think, “Coke should air that again.” Sometimes hokey is good.  Sometimes corny is what we need.  And we need something right now in this country to remind us that no matter our background, we are all people.  We are all human.

Considering the horrible times in which we are living, from the pandemic to political divisions, what our country could use right now is this iconic commercial to bring people back together. 

I am asking the Coca-Cola Company to resurrect the original ad and air it on Super Bowl Sunday.  What better time to rerun it than its 50-year anniversary in 2021?

We have a vaccine for Covid.  Now we need another antidote to fix our other issues.

Coke did a reunion commercial 19 years later in 1990 which included original actors with some of their children.

With the actual anniversary coming in July, there is plenty of time to make a new 50th anniversary edition.  How special it would be to bring back some of those actors again this time with their grandchildren.

But don’t stop there.  Recruit famous Republican and Democratic politicians coming together on Capitol Hill, in front of the U.S. Capitol building.  Model for Americans how to behave with each other no matter whether we mask or don’t mask.  Trump or Biden.  CNN or Fox.  America needs a reset.  Now.