VW Superbowl Ad

[JaneV2.0]

So if it was an ad featuring, say, a Finnish-accented character playing up the well-known Finnish reserve, would that be offensive? What if the Jamaican had been black? What do white Jamaicans sound like? The guy in the ad?

I'm mortally offended by almost all commercials aimed toward women--portraying them as dimwits obsessed with bodice-ripper romances and their delicate digestive tracts. Much worse than this light-hearted bit, I'd say. (Which has obviously had its intended effect, as we're talking about it.)

[SteveinMN]

Well, I'm from Minnesota and I'm offended.

Not all of us Minnesotans are that white-bread.

Speaking seriously, I guess I didn't see anything to get upset about here. I get why redfox objects to stereotypical treatment of a group.

But I guess I differentiate between negative stereotyping and positive stereotyping. I don't have a problem with a stereotype of a group that portrays them as easy-going and relatively unflappable. Are there problems in Jamaica? Sure. Is the Prime Minister of Jamaica addressing Jamaica's big problems that way? I think not. I would have a hard time with an ad that portrayed, say, all French as drunks or all Arabs as terrorists.

[catherine]

Hey, Steve, were you upset about the way that the Coen brothers portrayed you guys in Fargo? Just wondering.

[SteveinMN]

catherine, I was not.

In fairness, I've never seen the entire movie. But I've seen clips of it (especially the "dontchaknow" demeanor and accent) and I've seen plenty of other riffs on Minnesota (Garrison Keillor, who has spent practically his whole life here, does some of that best). None of them offend me.

Then again, I'm not a native Minnesotan. I was born and raised around New York City, where there were plenty of nationalities and cultures (even whole states!) to "offend". Noo Yawkers have their own stereotypes. Like I mentioned earlier, negative stereotyping is one thing for me; I'm also more okay with situations in which everyone ends up offended for one thing or another. Every group has foibles. It's a mark of maturity, IMHO, for someone (or several someones) to accept being the butt of an occasional joke and know that that does not represent every member of the group.

[puglogic]

I found it quite light-hearted and silly, and I strangely found myself wishing I'd had someone with that outlook when I was living my corporate life ("Who wanna come with I?")

I probably helps that I know quite a few Jamaicans, including a few white folk who use the same patois, and I don't know that any of them would be offended. I did not see any evidence they were being made fun of or insulted in any way - just imitated by a well-meaning goofball. If we're going to take offense at this, we'd better take offense at every Caucasian in a commercial who uses hip-hop slang as well......and that's nearly all of them (KFC commercial, anyone?)

Gonna go put on Toots and the Maytals now.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I guess one might be offended if one was a Jamacian with that accent suffering from clinical depression or something, I guess ... "I'm not happy!!!! I'm not fricken happy damn it, don't expect me to be, and I'm not easygoing either!!!" But really, since the portrayal strikes an *American* cultural ideal anyway, that offense lacks sting, even though it might be hard to live up to (especially of course in corporate America ). It's kind of like: "I'm not really great in bed dam nit, stop it with that stereotype!!!" It's the curse of unrealistic positive expectations.

[creaker]

[Gregg]

Gonna go put on Toots and the Maytals now.

A favorite of mine mon!

[Alan]

Racist?

pffffftt!

[catherine]

A few Jamaicans have left comments about the ad on Forbes:

We happen to find the ad quite amusing actually. VW and the subsidiarity companies are also among our favourite automotive brands. The ad is not racist at all and while our culture cannot be summed up as don’t worry be happy, it is the attitude of the average Jamaican in spite of that ails the country.

I think the ad is brilliant. As a black Jamaican, I’m very aware of the fact that Jamaican Nationality isnt tied to COLOUR. And our world renowned intangible infectious ‘Jamaican Spirit.’ I actually think American TV’s treatment of the discussion is more offensive than the ad itself

We love the VW ad. We are not insulted by it. Embrace your inner chill, people