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lamb mynamehere07
5:25 am - 01/30/2013

Volkswagen's Super Bowl Ad: Is it Racist?



Volkswagen unleashed their big new "Get Happy" Superbowl ad upon the internet this week, and the question on everyone's mind is—naturally—wait, is that racist?

   In it, "Dave" – a white man from Minnesota – speaks in a fake Jamaican accent as he implores his co-workers to "get happy" and overcome "the Mondays." Eventually, office life brightens and Dave takes his boss and some co-workers for a spin in his Beetle. Each speaks with a Jamaican accent as the commercial ends.

( It's like Black Face with VoicesCollapse )

Source
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hollymarchosias 30th-Jan-2013 01:20 pm (UTC)
GMA's discussing this now, but I doubt it'll be the Today Show's usual clusterfuck.
eye_browz 30th-Jan-2013 01:23 pm (UTC)
i don't think that this commercial is racist.

Now if he was wearing a dread-lock hat with a blunt in his mouth, etc, it would be racist. I think this commercial is intended to be uplifting and positive.
blame_mona 30th-Jan-2013 02:08 pm (UTC)
that would be stereotypical tbh. racism is usually towards a race that they see as inferior than theirs.
margeauxmarit 30th-Jan-2013 01:25 pm (UTC)
I just spent a week in Jamaica earlier this month and was probably as annoying as this guy when I got back to work.
xdecadentx 30th-Jan-2013 01:32 pm (UTC)
Back To The Island?
margeauxmarit 30th-Jan-2013 01:39 pm (UTC)
YEP!
dorky99 30th-Jan-2013 01:29 pm (UTC)
not racist. just stupid.
buttercup31 30th-Jan-2013 01:29 pm (UTC)
Yeah, I don't see it as racist, just really stupid.

xdecadentx 30th-Jan-2013 01:31 pm (UTC)
I don't think it's racist.

I don't think it's good but...
m3rr13 30th-Jan-2013 01:33 pm (UTC)
I don't think it's racist, but there's no denying it's stupid as hell.
musicpsych 30th-Jan-2013 01:35 pm (UTC)
That made me feel a little second hand embarrassment, but mostly because it seemed out of place. I cringed.

However, one of my friends, who is Jamaican, posted this on Facebook and said it made him smile. I don't know if Lindy West, the author of this article, is Jamaican. I know my friend doesn't speak for all Jamaicans, as one commenter to that article points out: "And for those commenting that they are Jamaican and are not in fact bothered by the ad, please don't act like you speak for everyone that is Jamaican and find the ad bothersome." However, that seems like a really dismissive approach, trying to shut down their voices.

So should anyone really be commenting on this if they are not Jamaican? Aren't you drowning out the voices of the people whose accent is featured in this ad? I mean, isn't that how your rules for these types of conversations work?

Edited at 2013-01-30 01:36 pm (UTC)
reach_the_end 30th-Jan-2013 01:38 pm (UTC)
Dumb, but not racist. Speaking a foreign accent is not racist. people are so damn hypersensitive.
phillymademe 30th-Jan-2013 01:40 pm (UTC)
not racist, just annoying as hell.
ialmrnt5 30th-Jan-2013 01:42 pm (UTC)
a white person growing up in jamaica could have that accent, ffs everything is not racist
nyse 30th-Jan-2013 02:05 pm (UTC)
In the commercial, a guys asks him - hoping to bait him even with, "Aren't you from Minnesota?" and the character doesn't deny it. So yeah, a white person growing up in Jamaica could have an accent, but this character did not grow up in Jamaica.
headswillroll88 30th-Jan-2013 01:45 pm (UTC)
I think it does further the stereotype of Jamaicans as these happy go-lucky people and most Jamaicans are in fact black so it could be considered racist in that sense.

I'm not Jamaican though so I can't say whether or not they should or shouldn't be offended.
hahahey 30th-Jan-2013 01:57 pm (UTC)
ia, I was just thinking about that. It's not like there's a lot of representation of them in the media, this just further limits the way people will think about Jamaicans.
brosling 30th-Jan-2013 01:59 pm (UTC)
mte
blame_mona 30th-Jan-2013 02:13 pm (UTC)
but the guy in the commercial didn't degrade jamaicans because they were black. if he was it would definitely be racist. as you said it tho, it furthers the stereotype of jamaicans to a certain generalization of them.
alouds 30th-Jan-2013 04:21 pm (UTC)
lol you don't need to degrade to be racist
alouds 30th-Jan-2013 04:22 pm (UTC)
ia
ppeak 30th-Jan-2013 06:13 pm (UTC)
Jamaicans ARE extremely happy, laid back people, though, despite some of the strife they do go through.

That's not some American fairy-tale...they pride themselves on their great climate, food and just having a great time and being happy with life.
winniechili 30th-Jan-2013 01:46 pm (UTC)
Not racist. Yes annoying.
d00ditsemily 30th-Jan-2013 01:59 pm (UTC)
I thought they were going to play 'don't worry be happy' at the end. but this commercial is terrible
blame_mona 30th-Jan-2013 01:59 pm (UTC)
i wouldn't say it was racist, it's more stereotypical.
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