The “Green Police” ad

If you’re like me, you got a bit of a kick out of watching the Audi “Green Police” ad during the Super Bowl last night. Here it is again for those of you who didn’t see it:

Reading some of the reactions to it today, though, I see that some people were freaked out about the ad, looking at it as a possible sign of things to come right here in the US. While I can certainly see where that concern comes from, considering the current administation’s ultra liberal agenda on all things “green,” at the same time I can’t help but think this ad did more harm than good to the “Green” movement. The cops arresting private citizens for non-issues like a too-warm hot tub and things of that nature just go to show how ridiculous the whole idea of “green punishment” actually is and I think there would be a major outcry here if anything like that ever happened here and was widely reported by the MSM (big IF there). On the flip side, though, is the issue of another type of “Green Police” punishment – the kind that will hit you right in the wallet:

The ad works for me far better as a warning of an overreaching government dictating choices — like incandescent lightbulbs, paper vs plastic in the grocery store, and choice of cars. Audi may convince some people to look into its clean-diesel offerings, but the ad itself is likely to elicit more concern over the direction of regulatory efforts, especially at the EPA, which declared carbon dioxide a dangerous pollutant last year and has started the effort to regulate manufacturing as a way to get around the legislative hurdles to cap-and-trade bills in Congress.

If the government really does intend on creating regulation over these kinds of choices, a “green police” will not be far behind, although not in the humorous style presented here. It will instead insert itself in home purchases, car choices, energy rationing, and in the use of private property. Government will pick the winners and losers rather than a free people making their own choices, and they will use the power of government to ensure that those winners prevail for the purposes of a governing elite.

Your thoughts?

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To see the other ads that ran during the SB, click here.