Green model: Car ads set eco wheels in motion

Ontario – A new advertising campaign features the familiar cues of car commercials – wind-in-their-hair drivers, dappled shadows and rolling landscapes – before showing viewers how they’ve been taken for a ride. The three tv ads were created by Innocean Worldwide for Hyundai Auto Canada to promote the car manufacturer’s eco-friendly models – the Tucson, the Sonata Turbo and the Sonata Hybrid.

Each advert starts with a scene showing a car in action before the camera zooms out and viewers see that the vehicle is stationary in front of moving backdrops pulled by stagehands, and artificially generated wind and rain. The filming was part of a larger green effort during the production process, in which a sustainability consultant banned plastic water bottles, tracked crew members’ commutes, cut down on waste, and ensured the reuse of materials, even collecting rainwater for use in special effects. Hyundai says the advertisements were created with no carbon footprint.

‘If we’re going to bring to market vehicles that are kind to the environment,’ John Vernile, vice-president of sales and marketing for Hyundai Canada, told The Globe and Mail, ‘then why shouldn’t the making of a commercial be kind to the environment?’

The tongue-in-cheek approach fits into our eco-nomic times. Environmental issues will increasingly influence the decisions that consumers make, as we explore in our most recent Consumer Attitudes Audit.