<font size=2 face="sans-serif">Has anybody else noticed that quite a lot
of young 20-something White British men seem to be adopting Jamaican accents
and mannerisms, even in cities (like Cambridge) where there is not a large
Caribbean community? My son and his (white) friends are all, like, 'Yah,
Man' amongst themselves, and listen to a lot of reggae, scat etc. etc.
This is because they enjoy and admire it. VW's marketing people are onto
something, I'd say. I've not seen the ad, but my guess is that they are
trying to show an uber-cool white dude, admired by his peers, and his coolness
shows in his adopted accent...</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">I wonder whether ads in Jamaica showing
cool black guys portray them with a Florida accent? I wish I'd looked out
for it on my recent visit (we were complimented on understanding the patois
- thanks maybe to hours of hearing our son's music?!). There was certainly
a huge amount of US TV advertising on air there.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Kate Brett</font>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br><font size=1 color=#5f5f5f face="sans-serif">From:
</font><font size=1 face="sans-serif">Harold Schiffman <haroldfs@gmail.com></font>
<br><font size=1 color=#5f5f5f face="sans-serif">To:
</font><font size=1 face="sans-serif">lp <lgpolicy-list@groups.sas.upenn.edu></font>
<br><font size=1 color=#5f5f5f face="sans-serif">Date:
</font><font size=1 face="sans-serif">30/01/2013 16:21</font>
<br><font size=1 color=#5f5f5f face="sans-serif">Subject:
</font><font size=1 face="sans-serif">[lg policy]
Volkswagen Superbowl ad and Jamaican accent</font>
<br><font size=1 color=#5f5f5f face="sans-serif">Sent by:
</font><font size=1 face="sans-serif">lgpolicy-list-bounces@groups.sas.upenn.edu</font>
<br>
<hr noshade>
<br>
<br>
<br><tt><font size=2>Bruce Horovitz, USA TODAY8:14p.m. EST January 29,
2013<br>
<br>
VW ad about a happy-go-lucky white guy who tells office mates to be<br>
happy in his Jamaican accent has been criticized by some.<br>
<br>
No, Darth Vader — spurned by Volkswagen for this year's Super Bowl<br>
commercial — hasn't concocted cultural revenge. But the force is<br>
suddenly hitting VW, with vocal critics claiming its big game spot —<br>
this time featuring a white, Midwesterner who feigns a Jamaican accent<br>
— is racist.<br>
<br>
VW insists it will broadcast the ad during Sunday's game on CBS.<br>
"There is no thought to pulling it," says Tim Mahoney, chief
product<br>
and marketing office at Volkswagen of America. It began showing online<br>
Monday and since then, has been a social-media buzz saw — with most<br>
folks liking it, but some critics totally trashing it.<br>
<br>
Some would like them to be joined by this VW ad about a happy-go-lucky<br>
white guy who tells his office mates to be happy in his Jamaican<br>
accent. "It's pretty horrific," says Ricki Fairley-Brown, president
of<br>
the multicultural marketing agency Dove Marketing. "Why do they have
a<br>
white guy from Minnesota faking a Jamaican accent?"<br>
<br>
Even more troubled by the spot is Rochelle Newman-Carrasco, chief<br>
hispanic marketing strategist at Walton Isaacson, an African-American,<br>
Gay/Lesbian and Hispanic agency. "What happens in this ad is that
the<br>
culture becomes a punch line, and that is offensive."<br>
<br>
Pop cultural guru Barbara Lippert is not amused, either. "It made
me<br>
uncomfortable to see all of those white people in an office setting<br>
doing this," she says. "I found it offensive."<br>
Even then, she says, after offering a similar commentary on NBC's<br>
Today Show, "I've heard from thousands of people telling me to lighten<br>
up." An online polling of Today viewers concurred with that sentiment.<br>
More than 93% said they like the spot.<br>
<br>
So does Wykeham McNeill, Jamaica's minister of tourism and<br>
entertainment. "We view it as a compliment," says McNeill. "People<br>
should get into their inner Jamaica and get happy." He's even<br>
negotiating with VW for some sort of co-branding.<br>
<br>
As for the actor who stars in the spot, well, he's just hoping it gets
to air.<br>
<br>
"People are entitled to their own opinion," says Erik Nicolaisen,
the<br>
33-year-old actor. But for a second opinion, he asked his<br>
brother-in-law, who is from Kingston, Jamaica. "He loves it."<br>
<br>
</font></tt><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/01/29/volkswagen-super-bowl-commercial-racism/1874213/"><tt><font size=2>http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2013/01/29/volkswagen-super-bowl-commercial-racism/1874213/</font></tt></a><tt><font size=2><br>
<br>
-- <br>
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br>
<br>
Harold F. Schiffman<br>
<br>
Professor Emeritus of<br>
Dravidian Linguistics and Culture<br>
Dept. of South Asia Studies<br>
University of Pennsylvania<br>
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br>
<br>
Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>
Fax: (215) 573-2138<br>
<br>
Email: haroldfs@gmail.com<br>
</font></tt><a href=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/><tt><font size=2>http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</font></tt></a><tt><font size=2><br>
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