JumpStart by Robb Armstrong for June 26, 2013
June 25, 2013
June 27, 2013
Transcript:
Oh, look, Honey! A mixed race family like ours in a cereal commercial! about time , huh? Our world sure has changed from back when we first met. Now we can read about the controversy right on our smartphones!
There was a Volkswagen commercial a few years back which showed two young men (one black, one white) driving around; they picked up a cast-off sofa from the sidewalk and put it in the back of the car, which I guess was the point (subsequently, it showed them reacting to some unpleasant smell the piece was giving off, so they dumped it on another corner).
There was certainly nothing explicit about it, but something – maybe the music, maybe their body language, maybe just the fact that both were thin and neatly-dressed – sort of made me assume they were a “couple”, not just roommates.
Again, I don’t necessarily believe it was VW’s intent to feature a young Gay couple in the ad, but if Gay couples perceived it that way and bought Volkswagens as a result, I’m sure the company would have no problem with that. :-)