This past weekend during the Super Bowl a commercial caught my eye. I was standing in Pegasus Pizza waiting to order my small cheese pizza and the song “this land is your land, this land is my land…” started playing on the television. The new Jeep commercial is promoting the importance of taking care of our earth. It starts with a scene of the ocean, to the snowy mountains, then the grand canyon, and across the landscape of the United States. All while the song “This Land is Your Land” plays promoting the importance of preserving America. It doesn’t stop there though, it continues to show popular landmarks throughout the world. The camera goes from the streets of India, to the rivers of Vietnam, to the Great Wall of China, and much more. Showing people of all different ethnicities, ages, gender, and religious beliefs coming together as one. Climate change will effect everyone all over the world and Jeep is trying to spread that message. The Jeep commercial inspires people to treat the earth with respect. At the end of the commercial the words “The world is a gift. Play responsibly.” flashes on the screen reminding everyone that they should not take the world for granted.
As this commercial played I thought back to everything we have learned in class so far, and how we have talked about people not taking initiative to change the way we live. But, I think that Jeep is one company trying to make a difference and opening peoples eyes.
Another company I found advertising for climate change is the website Nature is Speaking, which features celebrities speaking from the perspective of the earth. For example, Harrison Ford is The Ocean, Julia Roberts is Mother Nature, Kevin Spacey is The Rainforest, and many more public figures speak out. The videos are unique and captures an audiences attention because its new and inventive because a viewer isn’t being lectured on climate change but instead hearing what our earth has to say about it.
Harrison Ford says, “Humans there no different. I don’t owe them a thing. I give, they take, but I can always take back. Thats just the way its always been. Its not their planet anyway. Never was, never will be.” I think this audio clip is a reality check to some people because some people feel the earth is ours, but it really isn’t. We live here and have taken over, but plants and animals were here before us. This land didn’t start with us, but we have taken over and have been destroying where we live. Hopefully more propaganda for global warming will start to make its way into the media, so more people realize that this is real. The saying on the website says, “Nature doesn’t need people. People need nature” and this is very true. We rely on water, soil, and clean air to live and without generations will be lost. One benefit to the Nature is speaking website is there’s a tab, so people can do something. People can act and start making a difference. Its great to see advertising and public figures starting to take a stand.
As we all know media plays a huge role in our society and can create awareness with anything they decide to show us. I think it is great to see commercials using their power to allow people to become more aware of global warming and climate change issues occurring. It betters our chance of saving our planet in a simple way.
I have seen numerous commercials on climate change awareness. Due to the fact that people today are desensitized to normal visual effects. Instead of having a child jumping into a lake from a boat. He should be jumping into trash filled waters and being revived on shore from choking on it.
This post shows that awareness of global warming is becoming more common. Our society is largely influenced by media and the fact that climate change has become a topic in the media will definitely help its cause. This shows hope for the future.
I took notice of that Superbowl ad too and I loved it. Most ads, especially car ads, focus on the car itself, not necessarily the idea that our cars can take us to all these wonderful places in the world that we won’t have if climate change continues to become a greater problem. It’s definitely a good feeling to see a major company like Jeep speaking out and attempting to educate a mass of people all across the world about climate change.
I noticed the same commercial during the Super Bowl and instantly thought of this class as well. I think that we all have an obligation, no matter who we are, to attempt to combat global warming. These sort of commercials as you stated appeal to a wide audience which is very promising. Hopefully this trend continues to increase, and more people can become aware of the problem and act on it.
Thanks for posting these two videos, which are incredibly interesting when interpreted side by side, especially in that both seem to focus on water, albeit from very different perspectives. While I too enjoyed the photography, music, and final message (“The world is a gift”) of the Jeep commercial, my take on the commercial is slightly different than yours. In particular, I find the commercial somewhat disingenuous as a company that makes it money selling a product that does incredibly harm to the environment (transportation accounts for 28% of US greenhouse gas emissions) is touting itself as environmentally oriented and the practice of driving around as good for the environment. That is, while Jeep’s message is a positive one, overall it seems to be an example of greenwashing (http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Greenwashing). By contrast, the Harrison Ford speaking as the ocean clip seems more honest in its environmental messaging, particularly when considering the organization that created the film: http://www.conservation.org/about/Pages/default.aspx
It’s really fascinating to consider these two videos side by side — thanks for posting!
I really enjoyed watching the videos. I do believe that these commercials are making a positive impact on society. If more commercials were about climate change, I think this can really affect the world in a positive way.
I think it’s awesome to see corporations taking a stand against climate change and helping to raise awareness. That being said, I highly doubt that corporations are going to be the saving grace when it comes to climate change solutions since they are legally bound to generate revenue for their stock holders. Climate change solutions require tons of investment, but usually a very small returns on those investments.
This shows the level of impact the media, especially advertisements, can have on the mindset of a population. It’s one thing to read about the environment in science and nature articles and magazines. Reading all of the facts and figures that are provided. But what these ads do is use imagery, personification, and personal connections to sink in to people’s minds the idea that mankind is not in control of nature; it’s the other way around.
I think it is important to recognize the role that the media plays in climate change. It’s ten times more appealing to pay attention to something that the media is advertising. By advertising what we need to do instead of just telling us what is going to happen in the future makes more room for success. I like how you talked about the jeep commercial, I had seen that one too. I remember thinking about our English class and how change is needed. It only takes one company to promote change to make it happen. Millions of people were watching that commercial and it so far has already affected one small class at the University of Oregon so it must have affected more.