The VW Ad

I have been asked by a few friends about my thoughts on the VW ad. Have you seen it? White male from Minnesota feeling all irie because of his VW? As expected, the Jamaican accent sucks but who cares? The ad is hilarious!

Why are all these people talking about racism? Minstrel shows? Blackface? Say what now?!! Did we watch the same ad?  How on earth did this turn into a race discussion? So what if Dave is white? Can we stop trying to find racism in everything? Oh and newsflash - not all Jamaicans are black! Yeah, I know. Shocking. Yup, we have lots of white Jamaicans running around. Asians too - it's quite a melting pot.

I heard someone else say something about exploitation. You mean the ad is portraying that "don't worry; be happy" vibe? The same one that the Jamaica Tourist Board pushes? Oh the horror! Someone else said that Jamaica isn't really a happy place. Low blow, sir. Low blow. Yes, we are having lots of problems right now but that doesn't mean the people aren't smiling, making the best of the situation and getting happy (see what I did there?). The most ridiculous comment was that Dave was walking around the office doing nothing and interrupting people at work and so it was showing Jamaicans as not being productive.  Again, say what now? This person obviously spent way too much time over-analyzing the ad. We may have watched a different ad too because Dave was clearly in a board meeting at some point. Ugh. Do I even need to point that out?

Let's just all "chill like Winston". I love the ad. I love my country. Thank you VW! Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go pack a suitcase for a long overdue visit to the land of my birth.