Greenpeace's "Gas Guzzler" Anti-SUV campaign
It's a divisive world we live in and in few places outside of international policy are these divisions felt more then in consumer choice. Whether it's where you buy your everyday necessities, what types of food you choose to consume or even the establishment where you buy your flavored caffeine, these choices say something about you and your lifestyle. Vehicles, as such, are no different and few vehicles seem to cause more of a societal rift than SUVs.
Greenpeace has drawn their line in the sand and it is no surprise which side of the argument they fall on. Their new ad campaign puts their displeasure towards the ubiquitous urban assault vehicle front and center, asking blankly, "What does your car say about you?" The answer, according to Greenpeace, is scorn and degradation felt by all who come into contact with this supposed bastion of consumer ignorance.
Sound off in comments. This should be good.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Luis Longo 12:09PM (7/31/2006)
Make it forbidden fruit,
like thats gonna stop
buyers...
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Kamil 12:11PM (7/31/2006)
Ridiculous, let’s let everyone drive what they want. No organization should influence what one should or shouldn’t specifically drive. Even if I was a greenpeace supporter, ads like this would make me lose respect for them.
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Chris 12:14PM (7/31/2006)
Ah Greenpeace, your friendly eviromental terrorist group! Their message would carry so more weight if they didn't stoop to such stupid tactics to make their point. Then there is that lovely group Earth Liberation Front (ELF) which also resorts to idiotic tactics and often violent means to acheive their message like burning SUV's on a dealer lot or etching the letters ELF in the paint. I find the apporach the Sierra Club takes gives them much more credibility on these issues.
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Jakob 12:14PM (7/31/2006)
The good thing about SUV is, that they tend to roll over and kill the driver and other people on the road.
Result = less americans = less SUVs ..
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Eddie 12:15PM (7/31/2006)
I still say, if you can afford to drive a gas guzzler, noone should stop you.
And as far as SUVs go, doesnt everyone seem to forget that super exotics use a ton of gas too. So do crapped out poorly maintained 80s-90s cars.
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PJ 12:16PM (7/31/2006)
"This should be good."
Haha, no sh*t, Damon. No points for originality on this story, but kudos for making your first post a sure-to-be-memorable one!
Before the polarized opinions descend into a flamefest, though, we should note that Greenpeace did make an intelligent distinction between "city gas-guzzlers" and simply "SUVs." The ad is much stronger as a result... it doesn't come off as a diatribe against tall vehicles from irrational radicals.
I also assume this ad was intended for the U.K., given the Euro-style number plate on the SUV. So please keep cultural relativity in mind here--the Land Cruiser really is ridiculously large for U.K. roads, and Londoners' reactions to the "wankers" who potter around town in them really isn't too far off from what the ad depicts.
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dionysus 12:17PM (7/31/2006)
All about discrimination.
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Cody Peterson 12:17PM (7/31/2006)
When greenpeace tells the world to do something, I just do the opposite, cause in the end, its generally right.
So, today, thanks to green peace-of-shits remarks, I shall choose to drive my raised, 15 mpg downhill jeep wrangler vs my 30 mpg dodge.
Here's to you, green peace
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Robert 12:23PM (7/31/2006)
Anyone else think that Toyota sounds like a diesel when he fires it up in the garage?
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james f. 12:26PM (7/31/2006)
As long as you need to rely on peer pressure or guilt, as opposed to reason, to prove your point. You only end up showing that your point isn't really worth proving.
I think its safe to say that running an ad like this in europe where gas is prohibitably expensive isn't especially inflamitory. But in the U.S. the backlash that this would generate would be intense. Causing people in the middle to disregard enviromentally sensitive matters as a result.
Kind of like how u.s./isreali middle eastern policy forces people in the middle to radicalize when their home/family/livelihood gets blown up. I'm not picking sides here just stating an odd parallel.
Advertising that is self defeating, in the name of shock value, is ultimately the worst advertising possible.
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mod in need 12:28PM (7/31/2006)
does this site have a moderator?
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Sid 12:31PM (7/31/2006)
SUVs?
Lol. The real issue is people taking jets to travel where a high-speed electric train would do. A single 737 with half it's capacity is probably more waste of fuel than a 1000 SUVs.
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Cody Peterson 12:32PM (7/31/2006)
Wow, "You Suck", please stay off the boards, this discussion is for grown ups not 11 year olds whom heard "naughty" words from their older brother...
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jeremy 12:32PM (7/31/2006)
if you scroll through 'YOU SUCK!"'s comment fast enough, it looks kind of cool.
this being said, the ad wasn't terribly bad. Albeit biased and blunt, they did use some discretion in their message, targeting the city dwelling SUV's, not ALL SUV's.
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Dinosaurus 12:36PM (7/31/2006)
More like... "What does your advertising say about you?"
I'm no lover of gas guzzling SUVs but this is an awful spot. It's just awful. A positive message would have been so much better. How about the man is trading in his SUV for something better on gas and give us examples of the benefits. The type of person that made this spot has a heart filled with hate and that's not healthy helping anyone.
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Ken 12:37PM (7/31/2006)
Cody, (#7) I couldn't have said it better myself. This is so typical of political groups who scream for tolerance in the world. Tolerance that is, if you agree with their point of view. ELF is a perfect example. They go and spray paint a bunch of Hummers(toxic fumes) and light fire to a Hummer dealership in the name of saving the planet. The more they rant and come up with idiotic things like this makes me glad I do own an '05 Expedition and have an '07 on order. They cry for free speech then try to tear down Rush Limbaugh and the Fox News Channel for daring to tell the world there are two sides to every story. And to the person who wrote blog #8, well, I do kind of enjoy a HUMMER every now and again.
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Adam 12:39PM (7/31/2006)
I love how defensive people get about this stuff.
" I still say, if you can afford to drive a gas guzzler, noone should stop you."
I think that that right here is the problem with the American consumer, and a fair amount of consumeres everywhere. This isn't a matter of economics. This is an issue that there are limited resources that are being used up faster every day. Not only that, but relying heavily on these resources forces us to make comprimises in our foreign policy and allign ourselves with govenments and people that compromise national security.
"I still say, if you can key someone's H2 without getting caught, no one should stop you."
Same logic as the above comment. I can do it so I will do it.
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Presto 12:40PM (7/31/2006)
#8,
Judging by your lack of brain-power in your post, I can probably guess you don't have a good job. I can probably also guess that because you don't have a good job, you drive an older car. I can also guess that your older car is broke down half the time spitting more emmissions and burning more fuel than my SUV. Learn how to express yourself like an adult... hippie.
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skaz 12:40PM (7/31/2006)
Wow. Co-workers hating a generally nice guy because he drives an SUV? Holy crap.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not big on the SUV thing, in fact, I hate them, but I've never treated a person like shit for driving one, and I never will. I've thought less of some, but I've never even given a dirty look.
Greenpeace is an organization for angry environmentalists. And again, nothing against environmentalists, but if this is how they believe you should look at people then I really don't think anyone should look up to this garbage.
"You suck" is likely one of those angry Greenpeacers. That is what they know: defend an idea rigorously without ever knowing why, or caring who you hurt. It's about the whales, the clouds, and myself. Fuck everyone else, right?
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Ken 12:40PM (7/31/2006)
Sid (#10) Excellent point my friend! Nothing more hypocritcal than a Prius owner driving his/her way from the HUGE climate controlled mansion to the private check, flying from the west coast to the east coast over us "Little People" who live in fly over country and are the ones who actually make this country great.
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