Subaru wins green ad award for "Values"
The IAG Automotive Advertising Awards were announced this past week and for the first time they included "The Green Award." That award went to Subaru for "Values"
The spot won out over the other two finalists Honda Civic Hybrid - Trashed:
...and Chevrolet - I Want (couldn't locate this ad online). Hat tip to Sustainable Life Media. What do you think of the ads? Which one do you like better?
Labels: advertising, auto, award, green
posted by Nathan Schock @ 8:16 AM
8 Comments
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8 Comments:
How ironic that I should find this post when Googling to see if I could find a copy of the entirely un-Green Subaru ad I saw a few days ago that featured a guy driving his old Subaru out to a beautiful wilderness area to trash it at a Subaru Cemetery, because that was the fitting place for it.
Somewhere at Subaru the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing.
Consistency is important when a company is claiming any kind moral high ground. Just ask Unilever about the controversy they created with their Dove vs. Axe advertising. I haven't seen the Subaru ad you mention, but it sounds like a different message from the Values spot.
Here's a description of the ad
Subaru Heaven
For Subaru owners their vehicle becomes a trusted friend. Rather then just
be sold off for scrap metal, Heaven shows how a Forester owner wants to
make sure his well-traveled Forester has a special final parking spot.
Followed by his friend in his new Forester, they make the journey to
Subaru Heaven; a final resting place (recycling and salvage yard) for
beloved old Subaru vehicles. Here the owner says goodbye to his old
Forester, and drives away in his newly-redesigned Forester as he starts
the next chapter of his life.
I don't remember there being any discussion of recycling or salvage in the ad. Just a bunch of junk cars under a tree in a field.
The ad does mention recycling when it comments of his old subaru finding use one part at a time. Not to mention "subaru heaven" is a recycling yard in WI. It contains hundreds of cars but the commercial is shot in a way to portray a more peaceful resting place in which the rows and rows of cars are left out. If you notice the few other cars in the shot have been picked over for parts.
I hate this commercial so much I went on the internet to actually find out if there is more people like me. This is exactly why I hate big corporations. Making it an attractive option to go and just dump your old crappy car in some nice natural place. I don't care if its so people can cannibalize parts. No real person restoring a suburu is going to want some rusted ass old parts anyway when there are new aftermarket parts to buy. Man this whole commercial just bugs me.. It just covers up littering with some indie rock weezer loving bullcrap.. Enough of this brain washing.. I use to like Suburu's, but I am not sure if i could ever buy one now because this commercial has annoyed me so much. Then I find out that this so called Heaven is in Wisconsin??? Im from wisconsin.. Stop ruining my state and go back to U of M and litter there. - annoyed
I think the Subaru Heaven commercial is fantastic. It's stirred discussion all over the internet to the point that if you go online and google "Subaru Heaven," you get a slew of websites with people debating the environmental impact of parking your car in the wilderness and letting it rust. Thus, if anyone were to seriously consider trying to find Subaru Heaven to take their car there, they would probably realize first that it's not a great idea outside of television.
Ultimately, I think this commercial is very pro-environmental awareness. People who don't care about the environment would never care enough to park their car in such a beautiful place...in fact, they'd probably be more concerned with getting money for it. People who DO care about the environment will know better than to leave their car in that kind of place, unless there's someone there to manage the land and the cars on it.
So, to all those freaking out over this commercial....just chill out and let the rest of us enjoy the fantasy of being able to give our Subarus a dignified goodbye.
@John D - First of all, the place is a junkyard (Cindy's Classic Autos) that has more than just Subaru's. And what is the difference from dumping a car at one junkyard as opposed to another. Man reading your comment was annoying. Educate yourself a little. On a side note, if you've never owned a Subaru, you will never understand the commercial.
This is the first piece of media that this company has put out in over three years that I agree with.
Anyone who does not understand the value this ad has obviously not been a Subaru owner and furthermore, has likely not ever interacted with a true Subaru owner.
Bottom line for those whom the value of this advertisement is lost on: If you have ever owned a Subaru, you know how much love and attachment one car can garner. If you've ever had to get rid of a Subaru, you know how grievous the process can be. If you have not yet experienced either of these things and are intending to buy a Soob, these are aspects of Subaru ownership you will quickly come to understand.
After spending the better part of my life (let's see... 19 out of my 23 years) with one of these cars, I can say that this time Subaru as a corporation got it bang on. Whoever made this ad had been there, or had heavily consulted someone who had been through the retiring of a Subaru and valued their struggle enough to portray it as an ad. This loss of a Subaru is worth portraying as a Value - the love, loyalty, and grief that one has after owning one and then having to part with one.
I will not lie, I am well aware this is an ad to draw repeat clients to the marque. After having my feelings grow cold for the car maker - the final nail in the coffin for me was the dropping of the stationwagon from the Legacy line for the 2008 MY (which was a grieving event in itself - I cried for 2 days when I found out) I felt something when I saw this. My Legacy wagon is sitting in my driveway and I turned to my mother and said we need to find Subaru Heaven. After seeing this, and not being able to put my old Legacy in a junkyard for the better part of this decade) it's the only thing that seems to make sense in my mind.
So, if I can't have a redesigned updated model of my own Subaru that has had such a profound impact in my childhood? Over the last few years I've transitioned from child to adult and from Subaru to Porsche - my next car purchase will be a 911.
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