What if Everything Ran on Gas

SUBHEAD: Too bad this the effort put into this clever Nissan ad is being used to sell a costly, resource intensive products to consumers that will in reality run on nuclear, coal or natural gas.

By Brian Merchant on 27 May 2011 for TreeHugger - 
  (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/05/new-nissan-leaf-tv-ad-video.php)
 
Image above: A gasoline driven microwave oven. Still from Nissan ad below.
 
What if everything ran on gas?
Pretty sharp ad from the Nissan folks here -- it's probably the best "green" TV ad yet produced. Why? It effectively points out just how anachronistic the gas-powered internal combustion engine is. Every other modern appliance we've come to rely on is electric, and doesn't belch exhaust in our face -- so what are we waiting for with our cars?


Yes, yes, there will be complaints about EVs not being much different so as long as they're 'out-sourcing' their pollution to the coal plants. But in context of the ad, that's nit-picking (it's also a pretty shallow anti-EV argument, but that's for another post), especially since the focus is on exhaust.

This ad stirs up a gut response from a simple truth: People don't like breathing in exhaust, and billowing smog seems outmoded; we should be able to do better in the modern era. Emphasizing the visceral is a strategy that climate campaigners and green "marketing" folks should take note of further down the road.


Video above: Nissan Leaf advertisement. Form (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0sCCJFkEbE).

See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Mad Max Monster Wagon 5/19/11 .