Posted on 02/15/2010 4:53:08 AM PST by Kaslin
The new Audi TDI ad was one of the more provocative commercials shown during the Super Bowl.
The commercial opens with an unsuspecting grocery shopper asking for a plastic shopping bag rather than paper. He is immediately taken into custody by the “Green Police.” As his head is being slammed into the check-out counter the green officer barks, “You picked the wrong day to mess with the eco-system plastic boy!” The spot ends with a long line of cars stopped at an “Eco-check point.” An officer spots the Audi. “TDI here,” he observes. “Clean diesel.” The officer then nods to the driver, “you’re good to go sir.” The driver smiles and then speeds past the traffic jam. The tag line reads: “Green has never felt so good.”
More fascinating than the commercial is the fact that certain environmental Cassandras claim the commercial speaks for them. David Roberts, for instance, writing in the Huffington Post, argues that “the ad only makes sense if it is aimed at people that acknowledge the moral authority of the green police.” Indeed the driver never challenges the moral authority of the green police. To the contrary, the Audi driver is actually subordinate to that authority. The driver is only able to by-pass the eco check point because his car passes muster. The message of the commercial is that it is possible to be both stylish and eco friendly.
My question to those “that acknowledge the moral authority of the green police”: from where does that authority come? The question is rarely asked by the likes of Roberts because they don’t like the answer.
There are certain universal, objective and immutable truths to which all men are bound. These truths do not come to us through law, statutes or even science, but are instead the gift of divine revelation. It is in order to protect these truths that societies create institutions. The lengths through which our institutions go in conserving and furthering these truths can only be discovered through a process of rational and prudent deliberation. Science is but one of those processes.
We recognize for instance and all of society generally agrees that it is a good thing to arrest, prosecute and fine (or imprison) those that dump poisons into our waters and public lands (not specifically designated for such dumping). The commercial resonates because we tend to blanch at the idea of green police marching fathers from their homes for using incandescent light bulbs (the disposal of which, by the way, does not require that one open windows and don a hazmat suit). The left argues the moral authority for such “eco tactics” stems from the fact that curbing our production of man-made carbon will save the planet. Unfortunately, while the evidence of the dangers of poisons in our landfills is quite clear, the evidence that man-made carbon is causing the earth to warm – er uhm I mean the climate to change – grows less and less persuasive.
Far from recognizing the moral authority of the green police, as outrageous fantasy creeps ever closer to being a reality -- (Note to Audi: it stops being satire when it is true)--the commercial perceives the opposite.
Consider that the British parliament is already considering something called, “Domestic tradable quotas” or personal energy rationing. Here’s how it would work: every resident would receive a carbon credit card containing an identical allocation of carbon units. The number of points would be reduced each year in line with the government’s carbon reduction goals. Each time a resident used carbon based energy he/she would have to swipe his card and have a number of DTQ points deducted from their card. Heavy DTQ users would be able to purchase extra points from low DTQ users and no doubt those unable or unwilling to purchase extra points would be fined and jailed. Because almost every activity we engage in involves some sort of carbon production – writing this column on my computer for instance, washing dirty clothes, eating meat…breathing! --it isn’t difficult to imagine the political shenanigans that will accompany a policy prescription that is gaining traction among environmentalists.
Recall that during the presidential election of 2000 Democratic nominee Al Gore was asked the question: “paper or plastic?” Laughter ensued as the climate guru struggled to correctly answer the very question for which the hapless shopper at the beginning of the commercial was arrested.
Thus what we learn from Audi is that the green police are more concerned with power over peoples lives (for power one appeals to politics; it is the absolute wrong place to go looking for morality), which is why it is politics not science, reason or sadly common sense that has driven the question of anthropogenic global warning.
The funny thing with the campaign against plastic bags the past few years is that I remember in the early 80's, there was a huge campaign to get us to use plastic instead of paper because we needed to save the trees.
I forgot to mention, I called him a “metro” because I have a visceral dislike of men who look like they never have to shave.
The cost of replacement parts is a huge problem for German autos, and it’s why they are stolen more often (generally).
LOL!
That is another good reason not to buy German cars.
Steyn’s take was EXCELLENT.
Modified scene from “Red Dawn”.
Jed, looking through binoculars from a hilltop, “Looks like the GP thugs have set up a checkpoint down there. Let’s wait until the traffic clears....”
As the last car clears, Jed yells “Now! Matt, RPG!”
Yes, it was.
He only leaves out of his analysis the tens of thousands of us non-metrosexual PC types that just sitting on the sidelines watching this limp-wristed soft tyranny creep into play...patiently waiting.
He did mention a desire to see a Clint Eastwood type defy the GPJBTs.
The message is submissive wimps drive Audi.
If the deal is good enough I guess I could get over that, but why would Audi want to make it so they have to offer a deal?
Of course, they're marketing people might have looked at the number of Obama voters and deduced that submissive wimps had a pretty big market share.
You might be waiting, patiently, but Audi got you to talk. Think about that for a minute: what is the purpose of advertising?
Audi is mostly a liberal buyer car. BMW, AUDI, and expensive Japanese cars are the new status for middle income blacks. Give me an American V8 any day.
Actually, the goal is to get people to buy.
They didn’t score a sale with me, and probably most that are not impressed with the badge on a vehicle. Maybe they will win some spillover from those who ran out and bought a Prius to be in with the hip crowd.
You’re right, he did. I was talking about legions of Clints.
Question: is a person more or less likely to be aware that Audi offers a TDI diesel after February 7, 2010? If yes, why?
Dude, don’t play games. I understand completely.
Did you really miss my point?
I think I’m going to stick with Ford.
I want to test drive the new SHO. I drive the first year one back in the 1990’s. It was really fun.
Yes, I did. I thought your point was, “the commercial made me ‘mad’ (or whatever), so I won’t buy the product—and if I won’t, then most people won’t, either.”
You're oversensitive. If anything, the ad made its point in exactly the other direction. And it was funny.
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