Like many of you, I spent the better part of Sunday shuffling between my BBQ, my fridge, and the television, taking in the spectacle of the Super Bowl. And like most who watch, I was looking forward to seeing which ads would make me laugh this year. Hands down, Betty White saying “that’s not what your girl friend said” in the Snickers ad was my favorite as far as funny goes. But it was another ad that really stood out for the message it conveyed.
Audi’s ad for their new A3 TDI clean diesel “green car” was both funny and scary. Funny in that it skewered the stereotype of the fanatical “eco-agency” stormtroopers citing and apprehending offenders of seemingly outlandish environmental laws and regulations. Funny in that they used a clever remix of the Cheap Trick classic song “Dream Police” (and even funnier that my 10-year-old daughter knew the words – thanks Guitar Hero). But then I remembered this, the AB 32 Scoping Plan.
Suddenly the scenes of eco-police arresting hot-tubbers for having their thermostat set too high, or straight-laced citizens taking the perp walk because they used incandescent bulbs, didn’t seem so far-fetched, or so unrealistic. The ad became less of a hilarious clip of some alternate future where the desire to “do good” has been taken to comical extremes, and became more a glimpse of the not too distant future that CARB has planned for California and you.
Hey CARB, thanks for keepin it real.