Can Patriotism Survive Cynicism?

For America’s bicentennial in 1976, Coca-Cola ran a TV spot that nobody would dream of airing today. The ad is a giddy montage of Americans larking around in colonial attire, glugging bottles of soda, playing baseball and having a happy time at a Fourth of July parade. The flag-waving ardor of the ad is so guileless that on the eve of our semiquincentennial it looks almost embarrassing.