Audi A3 TDI: “Green Police” Crackdown
Imagine: Police rifling through your trash to find out if you’re recycling, getting arrested in a “lightbulb crackdown,” or a swat team disrupting your hot tub party—all in the name of the environment. This is the subject of Audi’s Superbowl ad “Green Police”, which is causing a heated debate in the blogosphere.
Watch it now:
“This is a promotion of a view of ‘going green’ that suggests heading toward a police state,” says A Siegel of Get Energy Smart NOW! “The Audi advertisement feeds directly into this “political epithet”, feeding a tea bagger-type framing of threats to civil liberty, serving to undermine public support for serious action to address America’s oil dependency, energy profligacy, and the challenges/opportunities that Global Warming present us (the U.S.).”
NY Times gives it short shrift, saying “This misguided spot put the “mental” in “environmental.”
But David Roberts at Grist says the environmental outrage is over the top. The spot was targeted at men (all of the characters in the ad are males) who basically “acknowledge the moral authority of the green police—people who may find those obligations tiresome and constraining on occasion, who only fitfully meet them, who may be annoyed by sticklers and naggers, but who recognize that living more sustainably is in fact the moral thing to do. This basically describes every guy I know.”
The Audi A3 TDI won the 2010 Green Car of the Year, getting 42 mpg highway fuel efficiency.
Is this ad offensive, misguided or ahead of the curve? Weigh in.
Watch it now:
“This is a promotion of a view of ‘going green’ that suggests heading toward a police state,” says A Siegel of Get Energy Smart NOW! “The Audi advertisement feeds directly into this “political epithet”, feeding a tea bagger-type framing of threats to civil liberty, serving to undermine public support for serious action to address America’s oil dependency, energy profligacy, and the challenges/opportunities that Global Warming present us (the U.S.).”
NY Times gives it short shrift, saying “This misguided spot put the “mental” in “environmental.”
But David Roberts at Grist says the environmental outrage is over the top. The spot was targeted at men (all of the characters in the ad are males) who basically “acknowledge the moral authority of the green police—people who may find those obligations tiresome and constraining on occasion, who only fitfully meet them, who may be annoyed by sticklers and naggers, but who recognize that living more sustainably is in fact the moral thing to do. This basically describes every guy I know.”
The Audi A3 TDI won the 2010 Green Car of the Year, getting 42 mpg highway fuel efficiency.
Is this ad offensive, misguided or ahead of the curve? Weigh in.
Tags: A siegel, Audi green police, david roberts, superbowl ad
-
Comment by Robert Steinhaus on February 8, 2010 at 7:18pm -
Strict limits on the production of GHG are meaningless without enforcement. EPA is not currently staffed with an enforcement arm that would allow them to operate efficiently as "green police" to enforce EPA rulings on GHGs and new rulings on climate related standards. Once established a "green police" brought into being under an agency like EPA would be hard to hold to accountability (no one in EPA is elected - the public can't just throw the bums out when their rulings are unwise or damage the economy because of bad EPA benefit/cost analysis).
The public deserves to elect the officials of a new climate enforcement agency (if that is absolutely necessary) and to have input into compensation and raises offered personnel. Let's not create a rouge agency with out of control green police - make any new climate enforcement agency accountable to the people.
-
Comment by Trygve Loken on February 11, 2010 at 8:41pm -
Oh, for crying our loud, does anybody take the Super Bowl ads seriously?
Incidentally, not only is the A3 TDI econmical on fuel consumption, but it goes like stink and handles well! Humans still need fun, we are not sheep.
Comment
Latest Activity
it is a ten mile round trip. When the snow is on the road surface the bus is takable.
Warning - A bit sobering...The smackdown in 8-min or less.http://www.ted.com/talks/al_gore_warns_on_latest_climate_trends.html
Warning - A bit sobering...The smackdown in 8-min or less.http://www.ted.com/talks/al_gore_warns_on_latest_climate_trends.html
© 2010 Created by Planet Forward
You need to be a member of Planet Forward to add comments!
Join Planet Forward