When you first look at this car commercial, your eyes may start to glaze over. Most car commercials are just rehashed concepts, scientifically developed to provide a sense of familiarity with the “target audience,” making them more inclined to consider that product if there is a current or future need for it.
Then you see something quite remarkable, in spite of that. It’s a prom date, featuring a white male teenager and a black female teenager going to the prom. The black teenager’s father is the driver.
One thing that’s notable, and maybe many white people won’t understand why it matters: the girl in the commercial is dark skinned. This is important because too many marketing firms use light skinned black women if they want to appear inclusive. Dark skinned black women are not a common sight on TV or in Movies. Many blacks have complained of this for years, and it looks like Volkswagen has finally listened. It really says something when a foreign company does this before any American company dares to. It’s kind of sad.
It’s hard to believe that this commercial would have been inconceivable even 20 years ago; it shows how far our society has come. There are some very sweet and funny moments in this progressive commercial, but the social statement by itself makes it priceless.
Not everyone agrees with interracial relationships, and I’m a firm believer that they have a right to their bigotry. Nevertheless, I think the rest of the world is starting to turn a corner, and hopefully we will see more things like this. Who knows, maybe the next car commercial will feature gay teens going to the prom, or even worse: a gay married couple with kids? Oh, I can just hear fundie heads exploding in the distance…
Here’s the commercial:
