New Super Bowl Volkswagen ad's accent sparks controversy
Posted: 01/30/2013
German car maker Volkswagen has unveiled an ad slated to air during the Super Bowl.
The commercial is offensive to some people.
In it, the central character, "Dave", is a white man from Minnesota - who speaks in a fake Jamaican accent to his perplexed coworkers.
The gist of the spot seems to be that riding in Volkswagen's new car transports you to your "happy place," in "Dave's" case, that seems to be Jamaica.
But some people feel that a white man using that accent has racist overtones. CNN correspondent and New York Times columnist Charles Blow said, “I don’t like it all. It’s like blackface with voices. I don’t like that.”
Volkswagen plans on airing the ad during the Super Bowl on February 3 when the San Francisco 49ers take on the Baltimore Ravens for Super Bowl 47 in New Orleans.
30-seconds of ad time is rumored to go for as much as $4 million.
After viewing the ad, what do you think: racist overtones or harmless fun?
Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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