Monday, February 8, 2010
The Super Bowl ad that freaked 'em all out
Posted by Kevin Allman on Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 11:46 PM
It takes some doing to kerfuffle both the readers of the Daily Kos and, say, Michelle Malkin, but Audi managed to do it during last night's Super Bowl with its "Green Police" commercial. Here it is:
In precis: Cheap Trick sing a version of their insanely catchy "Dream Police" retitled "Green Police," in which Americans are busted for using incandescent lights, requesting plastic bags at the grocery store, not composting orange parings and a host of other infractions. At the end, an Audi driver sails past a Green Police checkpoint while a title card appears: “Green has never felt so right.”
The problem is that in our black-and-white, liberal-and-conservative, spell-it-all-out world, no one seems to know whether Audi was making fun of the eco-conscious, or cheering for the eco-conscious -- and without that spelled out plainly in Big Capital Letters, those on both sides of the issue could agree on one thing: They didn't like it. (For similar suspicious, puzzled reactions from polar opposite ends of the eco-spectrum, go here and here. Bonus points if you can count the number of people who say some sort of variation on "I've got as much of a sense of humor as anyone, but...)
So what was the intent of the commercial? To get people talking about Audi, of course. And by that standard, it was a success. Did it make me want to buy one? No, but it did make me want to get a copy of Cheap Trick's greatest hits.
Comments (4)
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"The dream police, they live inside of my head..." I think that's the key, if there is one--if this isn't still overthinking a car commercial. It's not about a fictitious world in which buying an Audi keeps you out of trouble with some busybody organization; it's about a car decision you can feel good about if green standards are something you care about--if the Green Police indeed live inside of your head and "arrest" you for (if you feel guilt over) ecologically irresponsible actions). Their target audience is precisely those who want to make ecologically responsible choices. Why would Audi care what "mooks who think the green police are full of it" think, when they aren't targeting that demographic? Budweiser and Chrysler clearly don't care what women think about their bludgeoningly misogynistic commercials, and no one says "Why would you make a commercial like that if you're trying to appeal to women who are sick of sexism?" The answer is obvious: They *aren't* trying to appeal to people who don't buy into their sexist premise. And Audi *isn't* trying to appeal to people who don't care about going green. Simple as that.
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Actually, the answer is in the product that Audi is advertising: the A3 TDI, a clean-diesel vehicle. Audi's Johan de Nysschen has said that fans of electric vehicles like the upcoming Chevy Volt are "idiots", and both Audi and its parent company, Volkswagen are working hard to explain to Americans what Europeans already know: that clean-diesel vehicles like the A3 are just as eco-friendly as EVs, but since they're combustion-engined vehicles, they're still powerful and fun to drive. . In short: the Audi ad and its terrible ancillaries on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYxvtDMB1zk) argue that traditional, granola-fied green policies overlook the fact that existing technology can be made eco-friendly. Neither the wheel nor the automobile have to be reinvented.
"So what was the intent of the commercial? To get people talking about Audi, of course. And by that standard, it was a success." I'd have to disagree with you there. While this commercial did catch my attention and leave me absolutely stunned and horrified (and wondering whether it was supposed to be satirical or to be taken seriously) - I COULD NOT have told you what the commercial was advertising. Audi? Really? That totally flew under my radar. A bit too shocking to be effective, if you ask me.
When did cars become "green"? I don't care what type of engine you put in them, it is a 1 ton piece of metal designed to run over your own children in your driveway and convert dinosaurs into CO2. To put things in perspective, you could ride a bicycle to the store, take the entire box of plastic bags from the counter, shred them, and dump them down the storm drain and into the ocean, and you'd still be greener than guy who brought reusable bags in his Audi.
