Celebrating Black History Month -- and remembering Coca-Cola

So while everyone was talking about how terrible the Superbowl ads were this year, Coca-Cola's struck me as the most offensive. This was an ad I've seen before, but I was surprised the company chose to re-air it during the big game.

Reminiscent of my earlier post about Branded America, this advertisement attempts to celebrate black history month, featuring a time line of great moments in black history. Alongside the time line are Coca-Cola bottles, which change as time goes on. Simply put, Coca-Cola is telling us, "That's right, WE were there when it happened." Coca-Cola comes dangerously close to taking credit for these events, and even if it stops short of taking credit, it clearly usurps their goodwill and historical significance for cheap, short-term commercial gain.

I've taken the liberty of translating Coca-Cola's underlying message.

Coca-Cola, you make me sick.