My favorite ad during the Super Bowl was a good-natured spoof on classes for new immigrants. There was the Eastern European guy attempting a New York accent. The Indian guy trying to sound East L.A. with an overdone South Asian head waggle. The Burmese or Cambodian dude trying to pronounce "Bood Light."
It was touch and go for a while as I watched with my between-cultures radar tuned to high alert. But then the commercial won me over, as all of these guys rehearsed a unanimous "Don' speak English" to use when asked about the location of their beer.
Why did this ad work? At the end of the day, it makes fun of those people who think new Americans are stupid for not speaking English well. They're the ones who'll get duped in the long run -- not the immigrants striving hard to master the language.
It was touch and go for a while as I watched with my between-cultures radar tuned to high alert. But then the commercial won me over, as all of these guys rehearsed a unanimous "Don' speak English" to use when asked about the location of their beer.
Why did this ad work? At the end of the day, it makes fun of those people who think new Americans are stupid for not speaking English well. They're the ones who'll get duped in the long run -- not the immigrants striving hard to master the language.