Greenpeace UK has just released a new ad against their arch-nemesis, the SUV. I love it, and not for the obvious reason that I’m a treehugger. It’s really funny, in the same sort of humor as The Office (which coincidentally, also started in the UK!).
Apparently, rather than DIYing this ad, Greenpeace consulted with ad people, and I think it paid off. It’s accompanied by a mini-site, The City Gas Guzzler, which includes supportive info not only how to act (buy a more fuel efficent car; the site lists the top 10 in England), but also why. And not just the same old Al Gore hippie stuff – serious public safety stuff, too. For example: In an accident, many 4x4s are three times more likely than ordinary passenger cars to kill a pedestrian.
I think Greenpeace UK is smart limiting their target. SUVs and Trucks have their place and purpose. Obviously, a fuel efficent compact car isn’t sensible for someone living in the country on an unpaved road, or someone who hauls a lot of cargo. However, by targeting specifically the city 4×4, who isn’t likely to see terrain rougher than a pothole, Greenpeace is taking a position of logic.
Sources: Treehugger | Greenpeace UK
Great advert! It just so happens that I watched the history of the 4×4 on the history channel and this ad makes since.
I won’t go into to much detail since you could probably catch the show again but back in its day the Jeep and Land Rover served so many purposes in the military, traveling the many unpaived roads at the time and especially on the farm. But now what used to be an affordable vehicle with a purpose has turned into an $80,000 Land Rover that its owners would never let near the blades of grass that stick out onto the driveway. Now I know there are the exceptions but for the most part I would have trouble taking an SUV like that off road.(though it is completely capable).
By the way, who killed the electric car?
What’s the difference between a porcupine and a BMW-owner?
A BMW has a prick on the inside.
BTW, I happen to own 2. Does that make me a double-prick?
And a gas-guzzling SUV with a V8. What a jerk.