green police
In case you missed it, VW/Audi aired a really great ad during the Super Bowl as part of its 'Green Police' marketing campaign.
Despite some of the, um, issues with its name (which I only discovered when trying to find a link to the ad and finding this), the campaign is genius. By relying on humour, VW managed to do what a lot of sustainability-related messaging doesn't: present viable ways to reduce one's environmental impacts without being preachy and patronizing or dull and depressing.
Unfortunately, many PSAs and other communications with environmental messages tend to be preachy (thou shalt not drive an SUV because it is the right thing to do and not doing so is presumably wrong/evil/immoral...) or depressing (thou shalt not drive an SUV because polar bears are drowning/sea levels are rising/pine beetles are devastating forests...). Although the goal of these types of ads is to change behaviour, my sense is that they make people feel bad for doing something that they've already done and give the impression that it's too late to remedy the situation that has resulted or that remedying the situation is beyond their control. It's too late. The damage has been done. So why change? Furthermore, even if this form of communication succeeded in motivating people to change, alternative choices or clear solutions to facilitate the change are often missing from the message.
In contrast, the VW ad conveys that the status quo is bad (i.e., change is good) while suggesting that change is obviously easy. None of the charges laid by the green police in the ad were for behaviours that are difficult to modify. All the charges could have been simply avoided: don't use plastic bags (implied: use paper or reusable bags), don't use incandescent bulbs (implied: use compact fluorescent), don't use disposable coffee cups (implied: use a reusable mug), etc. And, given the comical nature of the ad, all of these solutions were presented in a way that made the audience feel happy, not shamed or depressed.
Clearly, the primary goal of the VW campaign is to sell more cars (public transit and bicycles were noticeably absent in the ad). Nonetheless, I think that that the core environmental message was a good one that might inspire more people to embrace more sustainable choices as compared to traditional eco-campaigns. I hope to see more environmental communication in this vein... Change is good.
