WATCH: Is Volkswagen's Jamaica-themed Super Bowl ad racist?

Volkswagen is taking some heat for the commercial it plans to air during Sunday's Super Bowl. The spot, which VW started showing online this week, features a tall, goofy white man from Minnesota speaking in a Jamaican accent and trying to cheer up colleagues in a dreary office. In the opening shot, a man in an elevator says, "I hate Mondays," a woman says, "Yeah, they're the worst," and the happy-go-lucky faux islander chimes in from behind, saying, "No worries, mon. Everyt'ing will be all right." He then doles out uplifting comments to co-workers before taking his boss and the guy who hates Mondays for a ride in his new VW Beetle. They wind up adopting island accents, too. Then VW's new slogan appears: "Get in. Get Happy." Take a look:

Barbara Lippert, a veteran advertising critic, summed up the most angry criticism by saying the ad is just "so racist." Actress Pia Glenn says at The Daily Beast that might be an overly harsh judgment, but she still finds the car company's flogging of stereotypes to be offensive, and unfunny in the bargain. "Volkswagen is not out to get us. I just think they’re being woefully ignorant, and that is So. Much. Worse." VW has plenty of defenders, though. Mary Katherine Ham says at Hot Air that VW's "hyper-sensitive" critics should take the commercial's advice, and learn the "virtues of chilling out." After all, she says, "the butt of this very good-natured joke, such that it is, is a little bit the white guy for taking on his new accent — hence, the 'dude, you're from Minnesota' moment." One person not offended: Wykeham McNeill, Jamaica's minister of tourism and entertainment. "We view it as a compliment," McNeill tells USA Today. "People should get into their inner Jamaica and get happy." VW says it has received plenty of compliments, and has given "no thought to pulling it."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up