A Hybrid of Environmentalism and Politics in Online Honda Ad

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL4y51MzRDA&eurl=http://darrylwolkpolitics.blogspot.com/2008/06/why-i-will-buy-hybridhonda-anti.html&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

We recently came across this alleged Honda commercial online, which fuses environmental activism with political opinion. It speaks for itself, so take a quick look:

It is unclear and very unlikely that Honda actually sponsored this ad.  It’s more probable that somebody cut and pasted a news clip together with the taglines of another Honda commercial.  Whomever that person is will probably remain anonymous.  It is still an interesting phenomenon, though and we’ll leave it up to you to decide whether the makers of the clip are dangerous carborexic types or legitimate activists of the first degree.

The clip has caused quite some interest in the blogosphere.  Here are some excerpts of the online dialogue that the clip has generated:

Darryl Wolk blogged that he is “not sure if this commercial is real, but it is why I take the global warming agenda seriously.  America and the West must break our dependency on foreign oil.  Green technology, public transportation, tough auto standards and a cap and trade system are the way to go.”

According to another blog, Current, there were originally two of these clips – one focused on the Hezbollah in Lebanon (as shown above) and one focused on Iran.  The clip that includes Iran has been removed from YouTube.  The writer points out that the Hezbollah is based primarily in Lebanon “and the last time I looked, we’re not exactly importing a lot of oil from Lebanon…”  The writer also asks “since when did the auto industry get recruited for the War on Terrorism?”

A blog called Avid Editor’s Insights refers to the alleged ad as “the best hybrid commercial ever” and Road90 tagged the clip as “fundamentally right, and… clean.”

Real or not, the clip has definitely generated a lot of discussion and we would love to hear your thoughts.  Please respond in the comments section below.

Read more about hybrid and electric cars in the Middle East::
Turkey Creates and Tests Hybrid Buses as Part of Project G
A Mercedes Luxury Hybrid is to Hit the Middle East in 2009
Dubai First Gulf State to Allow Fully Electric Reva Cars on the Road
Electric Cars in Gaza: Necessity is the Mother of Invention!
Shai Agassi’s Electric Car is Coming!

Karen Chernick
Karen Chernickhttps://www.greenprophet.com/
Much to the disappointment of her Moroccan grandmother, Karen became a vegetarian at the age of seven because of a heartfelt respect for other forms of life. She also began her journey to understand her surroundings and her impact on the environment. She even starting an elementary school Ecology Club and an environmental newsletter in the 3rd grade. (The proceeds of the newsletter went to non-profit environmental organizations, of course.) She now studies in New York. Karen can be reached at karen (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
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