"Green Police"

WATCH and ENJOY! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq58zS4_jvM

This ad, first aired during the 2010 Superbowl, stars the “Green Police” in an obvious effort to “signal social awareness while appearing not to take it too seriously” (Sturken 297). The commercial puts a silly spin on a serious issue in the “cool” youth culture of today, the climate change and the desire to be “green”. The ad does a great job of humorously providing true examples of things we could be doing to act more “green” in our daily lifestyle (paper, rather than plastic…even better—eco-friendly bags!!!), without aggressively preaching to us about everything we do that hurts the environment.

Car companies, such as Audi, know they have a terrible reputation for filling the air with pollutants and wiping out the ecosphere, so in ads like these, they try to strongly associate their brand name with eco-consciousness. While cars are a main cause of pollutants in the air, they are not the only things harming the planet, as the ad clearly exemplifies. This commercial successfully gets the heat off of the auto industry (specifically off of Audi) while still focusing on the important “cool” issue at hand.

Well done, Audi! We may feel less guilty riding in one of your eco-friendly vehicles than in one of our gas-guzzling SUVs. And we will certainly be humming the “Green Police” theme song all day long as we think about our choices and as we make conscious ways to save the world. Even if Audi’s cars aren’t necessarily more environmentally friendly, this commercial certainly makes us believe that the brand cares about what we care about (the environment), so it appeals to us tremendously.