As a person from outside of the industry I have to say that I did not get the message of the product's (supposedly new) features. As a potential consumer I viewed the commercial more as a warning: "Green Police is here. Act accordingly"
I was not convinced why OTHER 'green/hybrid cars would not be approved by Green Police. It felt like an SNL sketch thus lessening the message of why it is important to be green. It actually almost made fun of that kind of people. Why would you then want to appease such clowns?

Maybe they should have tried something more along of a 'green car' being admired at Nascar, or about a rough biker using an eco car interchangeably with his/her Harley or Audi A3 becoming a staple at a 'Fast & Furious' kind of gatherings. You can still have plenty of innovative humor out of the dichotomy between 'I care about the environment/I care about my wallet, too". 'I am pro-green, all for green banknotes in my wallet." Also, Prius positioned their consumers almost as ' Planet's savors' thus building them UP. Why not try to endow the 'green cars' with some of the power and feeling of strength that Hummer had??

Dear All

In my opinion, the two biggest challenges for "green" movement at the moment will be the assumed trade-off between being green and being cool (the risk of being perceived "lame" as outlined by Marc) and the risk of being ridiculed as "tree-huggers", what is the case in "Green Police".

What the campaign should have underlined was that there is no more trade-off between being green and having some engine power available, ie I agree with Madison. The future of green marketing is sending a clear message: "You don't have to make sacrifices to be green". Unfortunately, the ad damages that picture: people are getting kicked out of hot tubs, and a guy is intercepted for attempting to throw away a mandarin skin. What the...

It's even more interesting given the constraint which Audi faces: the whole VW group uses the same engines, hence while buying an Audi, you buy the image in the first place (as discussed in the blog, the mechanics are all VW). In Europe, the situation is even tougher: you can either pay a premium on a VW (buy an Audi) or receive a discount (buy a Skoda) - and here, VW seems to be more careful.

Having decided not to participate in the Hybrid "cold war" (Toyota, Honda, now Chevy and Mercedes) VW will have to compete with Hybrids with its diesel cars. Then why not compare it to hybrids, and highlight things such as high-speed fuel consumption?

Despite its humoristic aspects, Green Police has fair chance of damaging the image of green locomotion among the undecided. Unless we haven't seen it all yet...

Greetings Maciek Kokot

That's more or less what I meant with the "high-speed" consumption. Hybrid's strenght sits in its capability to not use power when it doesn't need it (technically you also get back some of the kinetic energy etc, but those, in my opinion, offer marginal savings on fuel), ie when you are stuck in traffic. Yet, on the interstate, the moment you go above c.a. 30 mph (40 km/h) the hybrid magic is put on hold, and traditional petrol-vs-diesel rules apply.

VW skipped the Hybrid Race and decided to go on a parallel path: Start/Stop Diesel engines. Once it (http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/technology/bluemotion) is introduced on large scale, diesels will be winning in both competitions (consumption on interstate, consumption in traffic jams). VW is already developing the technology (introduced in Passat BlueMotion in Europe, don't know how bout America), so clearly the technology will trickle down to Audi as well.

Hence, it's even more mysterious for me why didn't they highlight the advantages of diesels over hybrids. I guess there are only few options: either we haven't seen it all yet, or Audi wanted to influence the general perception of diesel engines (although for some time now they are no longer considered powerless black fumes generators, at least in the EU), or the campaign went "over the top" trying to send a message which was too strong while trying to be too easy. Imagining VW's marketing budget, it's probably the first option. Let's wait and see...

Greetings Maciek Kokot

They wanted to create a buzz and it worked. I don't think it will sell more cars and it should embolden the anti-environmental wacko movement, who probably weren't going to buy the Green Car anyway. But for buzz, humor and memorability, it did the job. Not sure what the logical follow-up is, however. And has anyone seen that ad since? My complete viewpoint at http://blogs.dix-eaton.com/three-ps/entries/be_afraid_of_audis_green_police_c...

I guess that would require a bit too much thinking as for a SB commercial. The message was clear: if you drive an A3 TDI, even the green extremists will get off your butt. Frankly speaking, the line "green has never felt so right" attributed to a guy just released from a green road block, and who is smiling instead of being irritated (supports the green police?) prevents me from drawing any moderate conclusions from it.

I do hope that this ad was a prelude to something more, and not just a flank attack to "create a buzz". This buzz might prove costly for future "green" developments, especially if they carry price premiums. And last but not least: I hope Audi has something in a boot in case some loud "Greenery" opponents find out that the term "Green Police" was used to describe police forces during Nazi Germany period (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordnungspolizei) Attacking a German carmaker after a buzz the ad has created will be more than easy...

Greetings Maciek Kokot