Acura Orders, One Major Comedian, A Celebrated Talk-Show Host and One African-American, But Not Too Dark

The Super Bowl Acura commercial is in the news for the wrong reasons. It has been accused of political incorrectness in its casting standards, where it was found that they had asked for actors to be, “nice looking, friendly, not too dark. Will work with a major comedian”

Even though the agency managed to rope in two huge celebrities, in Seinfeld and Leno, but who they did not hire, is responsible for the mess that they find themselves in. The cat was, apparently, let out of the bag, by a disgruntled actor, who was rejected for the role. He, supposedly, gave gossip site TMZ the casting sheet that specified the agency requirements for the role.

In the rather, humorous ad, first aired during the Super Bowl three months ago, Seinfeld wants to be the first to buy the new Acura NSX sports car, but the African-American car dealer tells him, he has to wait, since he is second on the list. The rest of the commercial shows Seinfeld, in hilarious situations, trying to bribe the first on the list to switch places with him. The ad has a surprise ending, featuring Jay Leno.

The agency refuted claims of racial impropriety saying that the, “skin tone restriction was to avoid problems with lighting and special effects.”  However, this has found few takers, as modern digital technology and advances in film making, can easily remedy such an issue, if it really exists.

However, on damage control mode, Acura was quick to tender an apology and in a statement on Wednesday said, “We apologize to anyone offended by the language on the casting sheet used in the selection of actors for one of our commercials. We sought to cast an African-American in a prominent role in the commercial, and we made our selection based on the fact that he was the most talented actor. The casting sheet was only now brought to our attention. We are taking appropriate measures to ensure that such language is not used again in association with any work performed on behalf of our brand.”

The ad, the first Super Bowl ad for a car by Acura, was estimated to have cost upwards of $7 million. The controversy, notwithstanding, it was one of the slickest commercials made and certainly ranks amongst the best in the Super Bowl.