Post the 2nd

Round 2! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Alright, so this time I'm going to start out with a commercial. It's one of Toyota's many ads for the Prius.



Aside from being bizarre and fascinating, the ad's visuals relate back to the theme of the commercial about harmony between humans, nature and, well, Priuses. (What is the plural of Prius? Prii?)

Above all though, they kind of distract from the message of the ad. I actually thought it was a commercial for a Civic Hybrid and wasted about ten minutes scouring youtube for "that Civic commercial where the grass and stuff is people." I felt quite the fool. Twas lovely.

But yeah, I'm going to say that renders the ad rather ineffective, but I suppose one could make the same argument about my sensory organs.

But that is just my rant about the ad's visuals. What I want to get at is the inherent problem that the ad represents about Green Brand Strategies. Now, I understand that the Prius is, like, the Citizen Kane of green brands, and that it has become a rallying cry for wannabe-environmentalists and fuel conservationists alike. In that sense, it represents the best possible endgame for green brands; benefit for both the consumer and the earth.

The problem (beside the idea that Hybrid Cars are a solution to the environment's slow death ) is that few other green brands offer the same dually beneficial aspect that Hybrids offer. Does "environmentally friendly dish soap" work any better than regular dish soap? No. Does it work at all? No. Well, just barely. But regular dish soap is much better at cleaning dishes. A fact I discovered after spending winter break testing out my mom's new dish soap: ECOSUDS! Or something cute like that.

In order for green brands to really take off and be more than a greenwashed fad, they have to benefit the consumer in some way. Don't punish the consumer for trying to "help" the environment, because ultimately, consumers are going to take what benefits them the most, regardless of its effect on the world. Why? Because humans don't give a fuck. Evidence: The State of the Earth. We're roughly 25 minutes into a Roland Emmerich movie here.

So Hybrids are a good step for Green Brands. For actually helping the environment? Not so much.