Is this Volkswagen ad racist?

[Syt]

Volkswagen apologized for this ad after criticism that it was racist:

https://youtu.be/CBTs67Oh1MI
(9 seconds long)

I've seen very mixed opinions on this; not just from the usual suspects, but from all over, so I turn to trusty Languish to see what the general opinion of this esteemed crowd is.

[Admiral Yi]

I don't get it.  Why are the big hands pushing him away?  Was he trying to jack the car?

[Josquius]

Why is it said to be racist?
The video is kind of bad quality but I think the little guy is black?
...yeah no. His role there is just as a guy pretending to be flicked around.

[celedhring]

I don't even know what that ad is supposed to mean. If it's just because it's a white woman's hand manhandling a black dude, I don't think that's enough to be racist.

[Monoriu]

Not really sure what happened, or why it would be considered racist.  So voted no. 

[Syt]

Yeah, nobody really know what the ad is meant to convey. The black guy being flicked around by a large white hand is part of the controversy.

Another part of the controversy in the German language areas is this frame when the letters of the slogan blink into existence:



Neger being the German word for negro and not acceptable anymore. (It can also be used as derogatory slang for manservant - "Ich bin nicht dein Neger" - I'm not your negro [servant])

[DGuller]

I guess it depends on what this ad was trying to convey.  Speaking of that, what the fuck was it trying to convey?

[The Brain]

It doesn't strike me as racist, but I have no clue what the hell it's trying to say, so it may be.

[Sheilbh]

The combination of the German letters and the images makes it feel pretty racist.

But, yeah I don't get it.

[celedhring]

Yeah, nobody really know what the ad is meant to convey. The black guy being flicked around by a large white hand is part of the controversy.

Another part of the controversy in the German language areas is this frame when the letters of the slogan blink into existence:



Neger being the German word for negro and not acceptable anymore. (It can also be used as derogatory slang for manservant - "Ich bin nicht dein Neger" - I'm not your negro [servant])

Yeah, this feels far more intentional.

[Richard Hakluyt]

The BBC also points out that the cafe name, "petit colon", means little colonist. "Colons" was an alternative name to "pieds-noirs" for the French colonists in Algeria.

The ad may be attempting to be "edgy" by skirting racist themes.....I think most of us are bored by that sort of bs these days.

[Grey Fox]

It also means the Small intestine.

I don't think it's racist but It doesn't ring any of the regular racist bells of the anglo-saxon world so I don't know.

[celedhring]

The lettering makes it look bad. Just imagine if it was an English language ad and for a split second they plastered the n-word all over the screen. There's a choice being made of having these letters appear first, particularly when a black man appears in the ad.

That said, it might just be the case of a GFX artist being "lulz I'm edgy" as opposed to the organization as a whole.

[The Brain]

The lettering makes it look bad. Just imagine if it was an English language ad and for a split second they plastered the n-word all over the screen. There's a choice being made of choosing these letters to appear first.

"ERNEG"?

[Eddie Teach]

You left off the L.

Otoh, it feels like they lingered longer than expected with those letters displayed.