Earlier this week, Volkswagen of America Inc. released their 2013 Superbowl commercial online. It features a white man from Minnesota who, after riding in his new Volkswagen Beetle Turbo, adopts a Jamaican accent and spreads a “don’t worry, be happy” attitude around his dreary office. This ad isn’t just spreading “good vibes,” though. It has also faced negative media touting it as “racist.” Chief Hispanic marketing strategist at an African-American, Gay/Lesbian, and Hispanic agency, Walton Issacson, states, “what happens in this ad is that the culture becomes a punch line, and that is offensive." Jamaica’s minister of tourism and entertainment, Wykeham McNeill, does not see the problem. He states, “we view it as a compliment. People should get into their inner Jamaica and get happy."
Why is this not just “blackface with voices” as New York Times columnist Charles Blow called it during a CNN segment?
Like China and Japan in Yee-Kuang Heng’s article, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the softest of them all? Evaluating Japanese and Chinese strategies in the ‘soft’ power competition era,” Jamaica has been and is actively engaging in a process of nation branding. Nation branding, which came from place branding, is the process of measuring, building, and managing a country’s reputation. Rather than hearing reports of violence, drugs, and high crime rates on the islands, Jamaica has been actively marketing a free-spirited, “no worries, mon” image that is good for tourism, and good for their reputation. Companies, like Volkswagen, are picking up on the success of this image and are associating that positive image with their new car brand. For Jamaica, it’s free advertising.
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