Acura Sought ‘Not Too Dark’ Actors In 2012 Superbowl Commercial

It seems like Acura wasn’t interested in “darker-skinned” thespians when they were casting for their 2012 Superbowl commercial, TMZ reports.

Apparently, when actors were called to apply for the role of an African-American car dealer acting along side a “major comedian” for the Superbowl commercial, there were some very specific skintone requirements.

TMZ had more:

You know that Acura commercial with Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno that aired during the Super Bowl — well, we got hold of the casting call document, and they were very specific/exclusionary about their dream African American car dealer.

According to the casting doc, the role of African American car dealer would be played by a “Nice looking, friendly, Not too dark” African American car dealer.

Someone associated with the casting said that the “light-skinned” requirement was strictly enforced because of “lighting issues.”Really?

Here is the casting document TMZ acquired from a “too dark” actor unable to “pass.”