In Tim Martiniak’s blog(1), I found great remarks on unethical business problems of AUDI 2010 Green Car Super Bowl Commercial(2). Firstly, I have to admit that the advertisement is so funny that it catches my eyes. But after I read through Tim’s comment about the advertisement, I became rational and viewed it in a more critical perspective.
The advertisement is undoubtedly interesting and witty because of the green-police story. It aims at giving their target customers, who have a sense of environment protection, a image that Audi’s cars are miraculously eco-friendly. However, does it really make sense? Or it is just a kind of exaggeration?
I can’t judge the environmental-friendly functions of Audi’s “green” diesel cars simply by the advertisement. Because the advertisement is just trying to explain that Audi’s “green” diesels are extremely clean and environmentally-friendly but it never tells us more information about how their products are green, how do their cars work to have a green performance? It seems that Audi is trying to hide something about their “green” functions. In that case, I am suspicious that the company is using the so-called “eco-friendly” products and the exaggerated effects of their advertisement purposely to attract more potential customers in order to gain huge profit from the market. The advertisement itself is unethical commercial behaviour because of the deceptive effects in customers.
I think car companies are supposed to provide consumers with real “green” products instead of the ones in advertisement. What’s more, the advertisement should be honest to the functions of their cars and tell customers the real information about their products instead of illusions. Government should take actions to set laws and policies to publish those companies that tell wrong information to consumers and set a strict standard to the commercial ethics.
source:
(1)https://blogs.ubc.ca/timmartiniak/2013/09/22/greenwashing-diesel/
(2)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIz-su6ueoI