Audi is a German company and, if they were trying to portray themselves as environmentally conscious, they should probably have known better.Certain images have a context and advertsisers ought to always be aware of what they are. Audi during the Super Bowl last night created a commercial that portrayed a police state run by environmentalists hwere the enforcement arm is known as the "Green Police."
During the height of the Nazi terror before and during World War II, much of the law enforcement in Nazi Germany was handled by the Order Police, also known as the "Green Police" because of their distinctive uniforms and their flag, portrayed on the left.Interestingly this image created in the commercial does speak to the most extreme fears about environmentalism, that its concern for the environment is merely a stalking horse for a wide variety of political and social controls. Don Surber of the Charleston Daily Mail tabulates the slow creep of environmental authoritarianism in Great Britain and notes that left wingers want to bring the same draconian laws here that would force old ladies from their homes for not being energy efficient enough. Their desire to intrude and destroy natural rights is as chilling as almost any totalitarian movement one can think of.
Audi may have been parodying the fear of environmentalism or the environmental movement itself. What it succeeded in doing was giving conservatives and libertarians a frightening image that they can combine with the words of most extreme of environmentalists. With this, we can attack cap and trade and a host of other insane proposals brought about by enviro-authoritarianism. Some of these people, like Ed Begley Jr., want to see this world come about. A picture is worth a thousand words. How many is a short clip worth?
Thanks Audi, whether you meant it or not, you helped American natural rights supporters out tremendously!
I agree, the ad was a bit over the top but comparing them to Nazi's?
ReplyDeleteEven more over the top and this thought process needs to be purged from the GOP mind set.
Opps, kinda Nazi thought......oh well.....
I would argue that the Nazi comparisons are put forth by the ad itself. It represents a totalitarian regime in action. Imagery like the "Green Police" would be akin to an American company using Simon Legree, the worst fictional example of brutality under slavery, to sell a product. But like I said, it is an image that works in favor of conservatives and libertarians because it puts a face on enviro-authoritarianism as we are watching emerge in Great Britain.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the effectiveness of the ad, it certainly gets people talking, but it does not necessarily make me want to buy one of their cars.