A television commercial for a sport utility vehicle — featuring a sales rep with a strong, sometimes incomprehensible accent — has sparked debate in the Newfoundland fishing town for which the SUV was named.

The new Nissan special X-Trail edition is called the Bonavista, honouring the historic fishing town's rugged past. According to legend, explorer John Cabot made his landfall in North America at the community, on Newfoundland's northeast coast.

A new Nissan Canada commercial for the X-Trail Bonavista SUV features a fast-talking sales rep.
(CBC)

A TV spot rolled out in August features a sales rep in a showroom, touting the Bonavista's benefits to a potential customer.

As the sales rep rattles off phrases like, "If that don't put a gust in your spinnaker, I don't know what would," subtitles appear beneath him, translating each idiom with phrases like, "It's cool."

Ad left some baffled

Bonavista Mayor Betty Fitzgerald was unhappy when she saw the new Nissan commercial.
(CBC)

Bonavista Mayor Betty Fitzgerald says she was delighted when she heard Nissan would be launching the X-Trail Bonavista, but her heart sank when she saw the commercial.

"When this guy came on and started to speak, gosh, there was only a few words that you could understand," Fitzgerald said.

"I don't want the people of Bonavista to be portrayed in a way that we don't know how to speak."

Pub owner Harvey Templeman says the Nissan ad demonstrates Canadians' love of Newfoundland accents.
(CBC)

The sales rep was played by a Cape Breton actor.

Resident David Hiscock said he's not sure whether the ad will lure potential tourists, or drive them away. The spot left him baffled.

"I feel I've probably got that accent, and talk as fast as anyone, but I had a job to understand any word he said," Hiscock said.

The commercial has been a water-cooler subject in Newfoundland — and in online chat forums — where opinion ranges from enthusiasm to disgust.

"At best it is annoying, at worst offensive," wrote St. John's blogger Robert Hiscock.

A good-hearted laugh

Some residents of Bonavista itself, though, found the ad hilarious.

"People are looking for that kind of humour," said pub owner Harvey Templeman.

"They love Newfoundland dialect. They cling to it, [and] not to make fun of it. They truly like listening to our accents."

Resident Jason Ryan noted that Newfoundland performers, such as Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers, frequently base their humour on local idioms and figures of speech.

"It gives us a true sense — or somewhat a true sense — of how we act, how we talk and how we're distinct," Ryan said. "We are a distinct society. Everybody knows that countrywide."

Mary Walsh, who has mined Newfoundland humour for decades on Codco, This Hour Has 22 Minutes and most recently Hatching, Matching and Dispatching, says Newfoundlanders have become accustomed to having fun made at their expense.

"I thought [the ad] was kind of cute," Walsh said Thursday, although she acknowledged the ad has offended some people.

Walsh joked that some Newfoundlanders "try to pass" in mainland Canada by smothering their accent and using non-colourful language.

Newfoundland's rich language and variety of accents have been well studied over the years. Most residents trace their ancestry to southwestern parts of England and Ireland.

The island's language and lore gave birth in 1982 to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English, a scholarly collection that remains in print.