If you didn't see the "Green Police" Super Bowl ad yesterday, here it is:
The message that Audi is going for is "drive this car and you'll be able to avoid the hassle", but the way they go about it is terrible. As Oaktown Girl writes in the comments, the message is that the green movement is turning us into an oppressive "police state", with cops searching through our trash and roadblocks set up for non-"green" cars.
This is what sometimes gets me about corporations and "green". Some large corporations institute incentives for biking to work, recycling programs, etc. out of pure concern for the environment. Others for complete profit. I recall several years ago I started seeing everyone from Chevron and ConocoPhillips to Pepsi advertising in National Journal, an insider DC publication, trumpeting their green values. With this kind of messaging, Audi punches the green movement in the stomach, scares its customers, and then tells customers to buy a green car to avoid the "green police" for the sake of profit.
On the merits of the business side of the ad, a friend of mine commented that, well, at least it will get people to purchase this new "green" car. Perhaps, but if its at the expense of ridiculing simple things people can do like using compact flourescent lightbulbs and taking bags to the grocery store, and perhaps even scaring people into opposing green initiatives, is it worth it? I have doubts about that.
STATE BLOGS
