Shout out to all my homies in the CB.

The Magic Land Where Race Doesn't Matter - In TV commercials, everyone can get along. By Rob Walker What happens next is that the woman pulls away and takes a left turn. And ? the hip-hop goes with her. It was coming from her car, not the guys'. As for them, they're still sitting on the corner and, we realize, waiting for the weather report on the car radio. "Whatever your groove," an announcer says reassuringly, "we'll be there."

So, as usual, all is well in ad-land, where appearances often deceive and where deep down we are all the same. This is not a path-breaking conclusion; it's standard procedure. The switcheroo?in which Dad turns out to be more with-it than we thought, or the kids are only sneaking out at night because they're planning a surprise party for Mom?is also familiar.

But the route that Chevy took us on to get back to Everything Is Fine territory is surprising to say the least. In setting up the viewer, Chevy has done everything but put in street signs indicating that we're at the corner of Florence and Normandie. We're pretty clearly invited to think of the guys in the car as music-blaring outsiders who represent a vague threat to a (presumably) virtuous white woman. For the punchline to work, in other words, we're asked to spend a few seconds thinking the worst. It's pretty startling.