Controversial VW Ad? Not Likely, Super Bowl Audience Laps Up Jimmy Cliff-Starring Spot

Controversial VW Ad? Not Likely, Super Bowl Audience Laps Up Jimmy Cliff-Starring Spot

A potentially controversial VW ad that was aired during last night’s Super Bowl has come down on the side of positive acclaim, with Twitter users making light of suggestions that the clip could be deemed insensitive or even racist.

Starring reggae legend Jimmy Cliff singing ‘C’mon Get Happy’ from UK 1970’s TV show The Partridge Family, the ad showed a white American office worker trying to cheer up his sad looking work buddy by saying funny phrases in a Jamaican patois accent. Following that, he takes his pal for a drive in his new VW, cheering them both up considerably (not least if they managed to duck out of work to do it). There were fears that such a move would be deemed racist by some, yet in a collection of tweets gathered by ABC news, it seems like the ad was a huge success.

Jimmy Cliff provided the theme for the VW Super Bowl ad

@NicaSalas tweeted “I need a #VW…. So I can have Jamaican accent,” with @missjenn_ adding. “Hahahaha! #VW commercial is awesome.” Indeed, a statement by Jamaica’s tourism minister Wykeham McNeill further doused any potential flames. “I think this is a very creative commercial which truly taps into the tremendous appeal that brand Jamaica and its hospitable people have globally,” the official commented. So there we go, it looks like everyone truly did ‘get happy’. Check out a clip of the ad below.