VW Superbowl Ad

[creaker]

TV is rife with caricature. "The Big Bang Theory" gets its laughs at the expense of the social super-awkwardness of a bunch of extremely intelligent nerds. And, of course, their next-door neighbor is a pretty blonde (that always happens in real life...). Joey Tribbiani on "Friends" was a caricature. Offensive? Apparently most people didn't think so. Lots of standup comics -- Chris Rock, Jeff Foxworthy, etc. -- have made their livings and generated huge followings poking at their own "tribe".

Caricature does not have to be offensive, especially if the portrayal involves positive aspects of the person or group being caricatured. I cannot accept redfox's equaling the VW ad's portrayal of Jamaicans with the American blackface stereotype of the early 20th century.

I agree. But it does not mean people don't take offense. Otherwise phrases like "gets its laughs at the expense of" would not apply.

It's not for me to decide what other people should and shouldn't take offense against. I find it interesting seeing people take on this role, though.

[ApatheticNoMore]

On the amount of "outrage" - sometimes I wonder if this is "meta"-advertising. Intentionally. Get a commercial to go viral like this where it gets shown a zillion times outside of paid commercial time where everyone is talking about it, and even if you tee off a few people, you've hit a huge audience for a fraction of the cost.

Yea well if we have Chick-fil-A getting the anti-gay customers (and that really can have darker motivations), why not VW getting the anti-PC customer which is frankly pretty benign, because it's a commercial that most people will not think is offensive, and then will be told we're gastly racists for not picking up on some secret code whereby it is offensive (if you had only done a graduate program in the sociology of race relations you would have the secret decoder ring!).

TV is rife with caricature. "The Big Bang Theory" gets its laughs at the expense of the social super-awkwardness of a bunch of extremely intelligent nerds. And, of course, their next-door neighbor is a pretty blonde (that always happens in real life...). Joey Tribbiani on "Friends" was a caricature. Offensive? Apparently most people didn't think so. Lots of standup comics -- Chris Rock, Jeff Foxworthy, etc. -- have made their livings and generated huge followings poking at their own "tribe".

+1 Really if you want a nuanced, complex, unstereotyped, and deep view of life, Hollywood (especially t.v.) is not your friend, the ad agencies are not your friend. Stereotyping is their modus operandi, turning off the t.v. is your friend.

[artist]

My husband and I both found it offensive. BTW.. We are both white and in our 40's.

[Gregg]

My husband and I both found it offensive. BTW.. We are both white and in our 40's.

Can a Norwegian guy in his 50's ask specifically what it was about the ad you found offensive? And I suppose the natural follow-up question, offensive to who exactly? No snark, real question because I'm just not seeing it.

[Gregg]

I agree, it isn't about race, but to too many people, everything is about race.

Sad, but true.

On the amount of "outrage" - sometimes I wonder if this is "meta"-advertising. Intentionally. Get a commercial to go viral like this where it gets shown a zillion times outside of paid commercial time where everyone is talking about it, and even if you tee off a few people, you've hit a huge audience for a fraction of the cost.

Being a skeptic I pretty much assume every new add is aiming for that goal. If true this one is pure genius.

[artist]

I find it in poor taste and offensive to mock something that sets someone apart from others. If you mock an accent (doesn't matter what accent) even "in fun" you are not respecting persons who come by that accent naturally. It's not funny or cute. It's disrespectful. I guess what I offensive is the lack of respect and consideration. Yes I get the cultural reference they were using. That doesn't change how it hit me.

Side note:IMO a more effective ad would have been that guy being calm and collected in a harried office. Walking up to coworkers and calmly setting to right whatever they were stressing over: The copier that doesn't work, computer program giving them trouble, presentation powerpoint not working etc... "embrace your inner chill" in a high stress coorperate work world driving this car to work will make your day so much easier, peaceful and enjoyable. Yeah that would have been good.

[redfox]

No it isn't an analog. One has to do with race and negative stereotypes, while the other has to do with a cultural attitudes that are arguably positive attitudes. What if the majority of Jamaicans just happened to be Caucasian instead of Black? Would it still be offensive to you? What if the French did a spoof of Americans at a baseball game eating hot dogs? Would you be offended? You can't transfer the attitudes of whites towards blacks at the turn of the century to this situation. It just isn't the same, IMHO, mainly because it isn't about race.

Good questions. It is about race. And yes, is a racist society, race is always a factor to some degree. If it were a caucasian imitating another caucasian in the ad, I'd not find it offensive.

I do believe that understanding this perspective rests upon a clear definition of racism. The definition I have found the most useful is this: Racism is behavior that affects others deleteriously. It results from prejudice plus the power to act on that prejudice. On the individual level, between two people, if someone who is prejudiced towards me has institutional power to act on that prejudice, my life is impacted. It's at the institutional level that racism is most impactful, though it can also be at the personal level.

We live in a society that is structured upon racism, that is institutional prejudice plus power, over all people of color. At the individual level, one may have racial prejudice, but be powerless to act on that prejudice.

I find this ad racist for a few reasons. First, it's a public display, and is therefore institutional. Second, it's being displayed in a racist society where caucasians hold the institutional power, especially over blacks, but also over all people of color. Third, is uses the stereotyping of a black person in the form of a white person, in the context of a racist society, who essentially puts on blackface and dances with it. This ad references a long cultural history of blackface, in a different form.

Stereotyping uses both so-called positive and negative traits. In the Jamaican stereotype, it's "all happy, all good, 'mon' ". That is not real life, it's a one-dimensional view of an entire culture. Why is this bad? At the institutional level, holding this prejudicial view of Jamaicans can mean they're not viewed as fully human. When black people are not viewed as fully human, very deleterious things have happened in our history.

Race, including Whiteness is a social construct. Here is an essay on this matter: http://www.toolsforchange.org/resour...-supremacy.pdf

In a racist society, it is only members of the dominant race that don't "see" race. Only those with the race privilege to not feel the effects of racism can claim it's not there. The images of racism that we all can recognize have been the extreme, KKK types buring crosses for many years. That is the rare example. The common, every day kind of racism is that which is done without thinking about it... Cops assuming that a young black man running is trouble. A loan officer assuming that a Latina has no credit and not even considering her application. The school principle who doesn't understand why the Jamaican father is so frustrated by his child's school, and is scared of this black man who isn't all "chill, everything is good, mon", and calls the police on him.

FWIW, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most egregious, I find this ad to be a 2.5-3. I never like any form of cultural appropriation, and I always am glad for an opporunity to talk about racism in the US. I think racism is our biggest public health threat, and I look forward to the day when it has been undone.

Here is a great resource for undoing institutional racism: http://www.pisab.org/

A different perspective on the ad: http://seattletimes.com/html/edceter..._ad_for_t.html

and +1 about Mr. Johnny Cash!

[gmpg54]

I'd have a heard time believing they could top the one with the little kid dressed-up as Darth-Vader.
I can't say for sure it was VW,at least I think it was,and not sure if it was last years game because
the Giants were playing and all that was impoprttant was:GO BIG BLUE!!!!!!

[puglogic]

A favorite of mine mon!

I am of the belief that there is no dark mood that "Sweet and Dandy" can't puncture.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_St8Kbo4uwU

[ApatheticNoMore]

In a racist society, it is only members of the dominant race that don't "see" race. Only those with the race privilege to not feel the effects of racism can claim it's not there.

Not that that isn't pretty ambigious by itself and a category to fall in or out of depending on definition. I guess it's quite enough to blend into a crowd untracable in an utterly mulicultural environment.