"The Green Police is, in many ways, a representation of the impact every day choices have on the environment- from choosing paper or plastic bags at the grocery store and drinking bottled water to the type of car we drive," said Scott Keogh, chief marketing officer, Audi of America. "The star of our ad is the Audi A3 TDI, awarded the Green Car Journal's 2010 'Green Car of the Year' award, and clearly a great option for customers who want to be greener without sacrificing the thrill of driving."So is the Audi Diesel campaign not making traction? Or is this just some really obscure experiment that is acceptable during Super Bowl commercial folly? I get the make better “green” decisions to better the planet, but I don’t know how watching a bunch of fake cops talk about how many napkins I’m supposed to take when eating a burrito will increase interest in Audi’s A3 TDI. Perhaps that is coming on Super Bowl Sunday.
I get that it is supposed to be satirical, but it’s really boring. It lacks the fun and good writing of Audi’s other recent viral video concept “Meet the Beckers.”
But who cares what I think: How is the response from those who have checked out the YouTube videos? Apparently the green one napkin per sandwich routine isn’t resonating. A few of many representative comments I pulled from YouTube:
“trying to save the planet with recycling and saving napkins is like bringing a dustpan and brush to an earthquake”The other issue is the use of “Green Police” for the campaign. The phrase "Gruene Polizei" is well known as the name used for the Nazi police force due to the green uniforms they wore. Fortunately for Audi it is well known by history buffs and not the general U.S. population; though, some articles are already getting published discussing this as a potential public relations snafu for Audi’s otherwise innocuous campaign.
“Aren't napkins compostiable [sic], recycleable [sic] and most are made from recycled material? Sometimes environmentalists need to pick their battles. Stupid stuff like this is a waste.”
“wouldn't it be better if places just switched to cloth napkins if dining in?”
“Manbearpig approves of this message!”
Sure the Green Police title will get some negative buzz but I doubt it will have much impact on the campaign. The bigger issue is around whether this police parody will have any impact on getting U.S. consumers interested in Audi Diesels.
Visit the campaign's YouTube Channel for more: http://www.youtube.com/user/greenpolice
