“Truth in Engineering” is the Audi motto. But their new ad stretches that slogan to the limit, promoting its new, supposedly fuel efficient vehicle, the A3 (it’s supposed to get 24mpg 34mpg).
Alongside images of standing commuters jostling on an overcrowded bus, a man on a bicycle dodging cars in the rain on a major road, and a guy trying to navigate heavy pedestrian traffic on a segue, a voiceover intones: “Many people are trying to do their part.”
Cut to the staple of car commercials everywhere, the empty country road — or wait, empty except for a Volvo with a biodiesel sticker, which the shiny new luxury car easily passes on a windy mountain road. Voiceover: “Some just have more fun doing it.”
We have to say, this ad has raised our hackles — and plenty of questions. Such as: Did you ever notice that bus and bike commutes suddenly get to be a lot of fun when there is adequate planning and infrastructure to support the demand for them? To what lengths will car companies go to try to sell their product?
And some more questions in light of Oregon’s (and Portland’s) recent all-out embrace of the electric car: Is it really that fun to drive? How is 34 mpg fuel efficient? How long will the myth of the “green” car persist? Is it really worth throwing your personal money and public funds into a dying industry when other solutions actually work?