I am all for preserving and protecting the environment, but for carmaker Audi to imply in their Super Bowl ad that we need a Stasi-like “Green Police” force searching through our trash, setting up eco-checkpoints which violate the 4th Amendment, and illegally arresting people because of a purchase is beyond a misplaced message, it’s stupid and dangerous.
Seemingly Audi’s message is simple, a fascist state based on fear and big brother surveillance is the next step in addressing our environmental woes and only by complying with the “Green Police” (ie buying the correct Audi) will you avoid arrest and earn societal perks like easing through eco-checkpoints. Beyond arrest Audi never reveals exactly what punishment is in store for the offenders, but we’re led to believe by a television news reporter that whatever the outcome, like in the case of the yellow-clad yuppie with the incandescent light bulbs, it will be a “tragedy.” What exactly is so tragic about this man’s punishment is anybody’s guess but you would have to assume it’s something far worse then replacing a few light bulbs.
Now I realize commercials are inherently simple-minded attempts to persuade people into buy products they don’t need, often pandering to the lowest common denominator through juvenile humor, but with the continued application of the Patriot Act and the warrant-less wire tapping, illegal search and seizure, and unlawful detainment of foreign prisoners that come with it, does a joke about America employing fascist tactics seem all that funny or appropriate?
On its website, Audi states the Green Police are “caricatures of today’s ‘green movement.’” But Audi also seems to endorse the faux-force, writing they are “a humorous group of individuals that have joined forces in an effort to collectively help guide consumers to make the right decision when it comes to the environment.”
Other forms of government throughout the world and even within the United States have already established their versions of “Green Police.” In the UK for example, the Green Police have the power to serve warrants, take property, and view business records based solely on the authority of a pollution inspecting network. New York City’s Department of Environmental Conservation has a team of twenty officers called the “Green Police” with the jurisdiction to enforce environmental regulations and issue citations to environmental violators. For instance, the Green Police currently have the authority to pull over vehicles thought not to be complying with emission standards.
Concerning a multidimensional issue such as this, the last thing we need is a car ad using fear or humor to marginalize an otherwise serious debate about the tug of war between our civil rights and the right of the government to legislate every aspect of our lives.
But hey, on the plus side I have another reason to dislike the music of Cheap Trick.
by: Harold Johns III
Tags: communication, culture, green, media, news, opinion, sustainable, wtf
February 8th, 2010 at 7:20 pm
I’m having a tough time wrapping my mind around just how unbelievably ignorant this piece is.
Fascist America? Really?
Are you so xenophobic that a German caricature of an obviously humorous “green police” has you convinced that Audi will bring the SS out of the grave and across the pond?
I’ve come to expect better out of Rathaus.
February 8th, 2010 at 10:55 pm
I assumed when writing this piece that using a term like fascism would inevitably land me in hot water with our readership. If my opinion at all offended you Taylor I apologize, for that was not my intent. What I think we have here is problem with semantics.
That being said, I will have to disagree with your claim that I used the phrase “Fascist America,” thereby indicating I believe America, as it exists in reality, is indeed a fascist state which simply is not the case. However, I did imply the fictional world depicted in Audi’s commercial, a world in which the police are allowed to look through your garbage, monitor your purchases, search your vehicles through check points, conduct helicopter surveillance, question local police and then make arrests based on said info all without probable cause or warrants are precisely the characteristics I associate with fascism. If America did indeed adopt the practices outlined above with the fervor depicted in this commercial then America would be at that point a fascist state, given you accept the classical definition of the word. But as it stands now I don’t consider America to be a fascist police state and that was not the contention of my post.
I also don’t believe myself to be “xenophobic” as you stated because although I fear the arrival of a “green” police state that models itself after the East German security service known as Stasi (seemingly the implication of a law enforcement agency having such a far-reaching jurisdiction), is scenario I believe most people would be frightened by. And if you were to ask anyone who lived in East or West Germany during Stasi’s constant surveillance from 1950 to 1989 would agree that it was and would be scary. I will not comment on the irony of calling me “xenophobic” when I write for a blog that takes its name from a German word meaning “city hall or council house” and has displayed and will continue to display artwork by German artists like Herakut. I also highly doubt your assumption that a German advertising/marketing firm created this ad and not an American firm but since I have no evidence to support this we’ll go with your claim, however unlikely, that Audi did the commercial themselves. If that is the case then I still have to disagree with your assessment of being “xenophobic” because for me, disliking and disagreeing with the implied message of a possibly German commercial still does not make one “xenophobic”. But let me ask this Taylor, is it “xenophobic” for someone to say they don’t like or agree with Toyota installing faulty brake and accelerator pedals in the cars they sell in America?
And allow me also explain to you why I chose “Stasi-like” as a term. I did not choose the Stasi to use an example because it was German police force and Audi is a German automaker (seemingly your conclusion) but this was actually a choice I made based on the tactics employed by the “green” police. Both of them being German was merely a coincidence on my end.
I’m obviously not afraid of the SS because they were a part of Nazi Germany while my example of the Stasi were taken from Communist East Germany, who incidentally took it cues, training and tactics from the Soviet Union’s KGB, which I suppose, given your logic, ultimately leaves me feeling xenophobic about Russians and not Germans. But I digress…
I will agree with you that the ad’s intent was humor, but in my opinion Audi failed to reach their goal because ultimately it wasn’t funny. Unless of course you think governments treating people in such an abusive manner is funny or the efforts of environmentalist attempting to correct man-made issues is silly and should be satirized in a negative way, then this ad hit the proverbial nail on its head for you. Perhaps my sense of humor is a bit off these days.
Aside from all the points I have laid out both in my post and in this reply as to why I find this to be an unhealthy and unnecessary media message to circulate, I am still not sure how exactly this ad gets anyone to buy an Audi. If anything, Audi is associating themselves with a scary premise that many a perspective car buyer could think is kind of creepy. I’ll refer you to the final two paragraphs of my piece in hopes that you may better understand my opinion:
“Other forms of government throughout the world and even within the United States have already established their versions of “Green Police.” In the UK for example, the Green Police have the power to serve warrants, take property, and view business records based solely on the authority of a pollution inspecting network. New York City’s Department of Environmental Conservation has a team of twenty officers called the “Green Police” with the jurisdiction to enforce environmental regulations and issue citations to environmental violators. For instance, the Green Police currently have the authority to pull over vehicles not complying with emission standards.
“Concerning a multidimensional issue such as this, the last thing we need is a car ad using fear to marginalize an otherwise serious debate about the tug of war between our civil rights and the right of the government to legislate every aspect of our lives.”
And finally do not judge The Rathaus based on this post alone because the opinions I expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of The Rathaus as a whole. True, it was edited for grammar and spelling but they don’t believe in censoring their contributor’s opinions.
February 10th, 2010 at 12:55 pm
Audi has successfully created a dialectic here with this advertisement that is anything but thoughtless. This discussion is exactly what Audi needs to align itself with the green movement without being a punitive force.
By creating a hyperbolic depiction of this ever pressing issue Audi has cleverly brought up environmental overzealousness without taking sides…it’s just doing its part.
It could even be argued that the use of a mock “cops” filming format (i.e. the man running from the hot tub and camera man chasing) and the man being slammed to the counter after simply asking for “plastic” alongside the real police officers getting harassed by the green police for their use of styrofoam raises questions about the status quo of law enforcement practices.
What I believe Audi is saying when they announce that they won a green award and show a calm, cool and comfortable man sitting in his white Audi A3 TDI clean diesel car amongst the malay is something along the lines of:
“Everyone may be going nuts about the environment, but if you buy an Audi A3 TDI clean diesel automobile you’ll be in the clear and you’ll look cool and attractive doing it. Audi is ahead of it all so be on the cutting edge with us cause you’ll get to cut in line, we promise.”
For some reason this ad reminds me of Sherrie Levine’s appropriation of Walker Evans…It seems like a ‘cheap trick’ (the pun was noticed in retrospect) but it inevitably incites a discussion. http://www.aftersherrielevine.com/