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Our Country?
I settled in last night to watch NBC Sunday Night Football. My family and I love to watch all the pre-game activities, especially the video to the tune of the Mellencamp song this is our Country” in which there are clips of kids, average adults, and professionals playing football. NBC plays this before their Sunday night game and tops it off by saying “this is our game”. All in all it sets the stage very well for the Sunday night game and brings families together to watch what is widely regarding as the premier American sport.
Imagine my family’s surprise when during a commercial break in the first half we see the new Madden ’08 video game being promoted but we hear nothing but Spanish! We were not watching the SAP broadcast, the network had aired this Spanish only advertisement over its primary broadcast and Americans across the nation were treated to what is probably the first, but not the last, advertisement in a foreign language during a domestic broad cast.
We were outraged and my wife fired off an email to the network stating that this is the United States and we should be able to watch television in English. The dust had barely settled when ANOTHER commercial in Spanish aired later in the telecast. This one showed a Hispanic couple sitting with a counselor and it was in Spanish with English subtitles! At the end of the ad the commentator said in English something to the effect that Hispanics across the Nation are coming to terms with their addiction to football.
How does NBC start out a telecast with a very patriotic video showing American football being played by people of all ages and say that this is “Out Country” and this is “Our Game” and then hit the viewing public with Spanish advertisement? It is times like this when I wonder what is next in a country that is seemingly doing everything possible to make English a second language. For now I just thank God for the person who invented the DVR so that I can record the game, start watching it 15 minutes late, and fast forward through the Spanish portion for the broad cast of “Our Game” in “Our Country”!
