Commercial Musings

I've been home on Spring Break, probably watching more television than I should, and I've noticed quite a few commercials using eco-consciousness to sell products. Most recently I was surprised by a Michelin commercial, which apparently was a Superbowl commercial (I didn't watch the Superbowl so the commercial is new to me). I find it amusing that the advertisement promises a clean environment for future generations (as signified by the children on the playground surrounded by green pine trees) when the product, tires, are part of the biggest cause of global warming, the automobile industry. The company paid big bucks to get this commercial seen during the Superbowl which leads me to believe that large companies are indeed thinking that environmental protection is going to be the next big trend in consumer consciousness. Hopefully it becomes more than a superficial fad that is used to sell things to us and instead becomes a mass change in lifestyle.

Anyway, it's great that companies in the automobile industry are acting responsibly and taking action to reduce actions that degrade the environment. To read more about what Michelin says it's doing, check out its Performance and Responsibility Brochure and judge for yourself whether this commercial is misleading.