Super Bowl XLVII commercials: Is Coca-Cola ad racist?

It wouldn't be the Super Bowl if there wasn't hype about the commercials, and they wouldn't be Super Bowl commercials if there wasn't controversy that preceded them. While Mercedes has had to answer to some questions of being "too risqué" in their Kate Upton ad, it's Coca-Cola that's coming under a little more serious fire than that.

Coke's Super Bowl ad features a race across the desert with cowboys, showgirls, and badlanders, but also features a lone, stereotypical Arab with camels. The president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Warren David, told Reuters that the commercial was indeed racist. And Coke's not the only company that has had to answer questions like this, despite the fact that the Super Bowl still hasn't even started yet.

Volkswagen's Super Bowl ad featuring a Midwesterner who "channeling Jimmy Cliff", the Jamaican musician, has offended a few people. Though neither the Coca-Cola ad or the Volkswagen ad has really generated much anger and most likely won't unless something unforeseen happens on Super Bowl Sunday. Most of the hype is still going to Kate Upton and what other celebrities might unexpectedly pop up, much like Clint Eastwood in 2012.

All we know for certain is what we already know. It's what we don't yet know that could generate the most controversy of all.