If you have an audience of 100 million people, don’t you think that should set the bar quite high in terms of what you show them, particularly if you’re paying in the region of $2.5 million for the privilege? Apparently Audi didn’t think so, when they approved the ad for the A3 TDI that aired during the Super Bowl a couple of weeks ago.



As cars go, the TDI has comparatively good green credentials, and particularly so in comparison to the cars driven by most Americans . So it’s not unreasonable that Audi would want to shout about it. But as a way of selling cars, the Green Police ad seems perverse and somewhat ambiguous. Is it gently making fun of the way in which we’ve become obsessed with environmental minutiae (our obsession with avoiding plastic carrier bags whilst thinking nothing of jetting off to Europe for a weekend break)? Or is trying to suggest that the green movement has become the thought police of the 21st century? Do I want to be with the Green Police, or against them? The eco-friendly universe portrayed by Audi is a pretty terrifying place – a libertarian’s worst nightmare, with every move monitored by a bunch of overweight cops. On the other hand, Audi’s website describes the green police as “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”.

There’s the germ of a really important idea there – that it’s possible to make environmentally conscious decisions without sacrificing style, beauty or fun. But the ad does a good job of making sustainability seem uncool, boring, irritating and an all round pain in the backside. Which surely can’t have been the intention…