A Volkswagen commercial set to air during this Sunday’s Super Bowl encourages people to be happy, but critics are frowning over what they allege is a racist slight against Jamaicans.
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At the 1:02 spot in the “Get Happy” commercial, a midwestern White man named Dave tells upset co-workers “don’t worry, everything will be all right,” in a Jamaican accent drawing on the “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” song by Bobby McFerrin and Bob Marley‘s classic “Three Little Birds.” Throughout the ad, Dave continues cheering up his colleagues with his faux-West Indian accent.
The spot ends with Dave (pictured in driver’s seat), taking his stressed-out co-workers for a rejuvenating ride in a new Volkswagen. They return to work three minutes late, according to a fellow worker, but Dave’s co-workers don’t seem to mind. One worker who appears to be of Asian descent adds, “Don’t be no cloud on a sunny day!” in his own Jamaican accent, and their White supervisor then tells the man to “chill, Winston.”
Watch the “Get Happy” Ad here:
Unfortunately, some aren’t seeing a reason to chill after watching the ad. “It’s pretty horrific,” Ricki Fairley-Brown, president of Dove Marketing, a multicultural agency, told USA Today. “Why do they have a White guy from Minnesota faking a Jamaican accent?”
“It made me uncomfortable to see all of those White people in an office setting doing this,” pop culture ad critic Barbara Lippert added.
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