Leaf Commercial

Nah, I'm sticking with "Stupid" because I'm not criticizing someone having an opinion about global warming, I agree everyone is entitled to their opinion.

What I'm criticizing is someone who would watch an Ad from Nissan, concievably promoting an Electric Car and be critical based on the fact that it is possibly promoting the idea of habitat loss and global warming.

It's not a statement by Stephen Hawkings it's a Polar Bear giving a hug....I don't like the ad, but I think it's stupid if you don't like it because you think it isn't reflecting realistic ecological or enviromental realities.

It's almost like watching a Yogi Bear cartoon and being upset because bears don't really act that way.

 

You know, I liked that the polar bear swam from the ice chunk instead of the dumb fake "documentary" that implied the bears were going to die because the they are on floating ice.

But I wanted that bear to be more of a bear, and seek some vengence and not just want a hug. That's just me. Its the disneyfication of nature.

You know just like that fake daytime yogi bear cartoon. On Harvey Birdman I learned the truth, that boo boo really is a terrorist. He just acts cute.
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law/Death by Chocolate - The TV IV

 

How is it a fact that the polar bear populations are rising? That "most people are aware" doesn't make it fact. The experts in the field can't even agree how many subspecies of polar bear are rising/declining....how can public perception be any indicator of a fact? [rant] That's why there isn't any real journalism in this day and age [/rant]

I don't really like the commercial because it's too superficial of the issues. Polar bears are more likely to go extinct over encroaching into the type of warm suburb that's depicted here. EVs seem like a good approach for daily commutes, but I think the main stumbling block isn't going to be how green it is....it's going to be the practicality of range (most people still want the ability to be able to have refueling stations for weekend trips).

 

Here's an article saying that the population of polar bears has at least doubled in the last 40 years or so:

Canada's growing polar bear population 'becoming a problem,' locals say - Orlando Seminole County Environmental News | Examiner.com

Wall Street Journal, January 3, 2007: "[T]here are in fact more polar bears in the world now than there were 40 years ago, as the nearby chart shows. The main threat to polar bears in recent decades has been from hunting, with estimates as low as 5,000 to 10,000 bears in the 1950s and 1960s. But thanks to conservation efforts, and some cross-border cooperation among the U.S., Canada and Russia, the best estimate today is that the polar bear population is 20,000 to 25,000"

I am not going to continue researching this for the individual sub categories. some are up, some are down, some are stable. but polar bears are not going extinct. the number is rising.

:focus: I'm not really trying to be critical of the commercial because of the bear. it just isn't making me want to buy a leaf because of the bear. that's pretty much what i said in a benign statement back on page 3, but it was taken way out of proportion.

 

Repeating the same quotes does not make it fact. When I click on the link for the article, nowhere do I see a statement that the polar bear population has doubled in 40 years. It does list the conclusion by PBSG that 8 subspecies are declining, 3 are stable, and 1 is increasing. It does put in parenthesis "Estimates of the population during the 1950s and 1960s, before harvest quotas were enacted, range from 5,000 to 10,000" but wherever this estimate is from was not taken from the PBSG (as scientific study of polar bear population did not exist at this time: scientific surveys started in the 70s).

The article then counters these numbers with anectodal evidence that hunters/locals are spotting more polar bears in their vacinity. This is not a specific survey of the number of polar bears, as any creditable scientist will say that this is more an indicator that the native food source of polar bears is declining (thus forcing the current population closer to human settlements).

The real facts are that there is not enough evidence to claim how much decline or incline there is in the polar bear population.

 

I agree the marketing should focus on the technology and "cool" factor these cars offer! Let's face it, the SUV buyer will never touch these cars until they have no other choice. The "Green" customer already has or wants one. It's the potential customers in-between that need to be swayed, so appeal to the iPod buyer, the gamer and the technology lover!

 

:cheer2:

Its a commercial people!

I personally feel its a good one, made me smile and laugh. If I wasn't already interested or , if I didn't already know all about the Nissan Leaf, I would be online looking up details about it. Why would the Polar bear METAPHORICALLY hug the man driving a little blue Nissan.

Mission Accomplished Nissan!

 

It really made me want to start singing "I'd like to teach the world to sing..."

 

Curious, what exactly is the definition of a "masculine" looking car? Does it have hairy armpits, really big tires, and a gun rack?

Do you mean "sporty"?

 

Due to lack of bandwidth, I'm late to the ad but I did also see this making of video. I hope this isn't a repost.

 

Egg shaped with lots of rounded features tend to be feminine for obvious reasons by looking at the human feminine form. Angularity, and chiseled features tend towards masculinity. Again, all going back to the human form which is the basis for defining such physical characteristics.

 

Until they have no other choice? That sounds a bit totalitarian considering that big vehicles will ALWAYS be with us.

Further, the SUV buyer WOULD touch those cars as well as the 'tweeners that you mentioned.

Sell it on technology. That will grab a good niche.

 

http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/images/stories/papers/reprint/taylor_polar_bears.pdf

It's widely agreed that the polar bear population as reported has gone from about 5000 in 1975 to about 25,000 now.

 

Nice diversion. They're descendent from brown bears. They can live in warm climates as evidenced by polar bears living in zoos all over the world.

 

http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/images/stories/papers/reprint/taylor_polar_bears.pdf

Do you deny most scientists agree that the reported population of polar bears was approximately 5000 in 1975 and is now 20,000?

 

Nonsense. When one is struck with such a preposterous concept in well done media, there's nothing rediculous about saying it makes you want to puke. It's mindless propaganda. There's nothing wrong with being reviled by propaganda. Nothing ridiculous at all. Further, it's not stupid to criticize propaganda for being propaganda.

Why are you defending propaganda by calling its opponents ridiculous and stupid? Where DID you develop your concept of stupidity and ridiculousness?

 

I'd like it better if the polar bear snuck up on the human and mauled him like a seal. Not that I wish that to happen, I'm just responding to one hypothetical question with a hypothetical answer.

Further, I'd much rather see Shakira or somebody like her in a bikini.

 

Further, I liked the Rock Me Gently squirrel trying to sell Jeeps.

None of the above are propagandizing for a fascist/green take over of every last bit of personal liberty; however. The Leaf commercial is and using pseudo science to do it.

 

Do some research. Most scientists agree the polar bear population was reported at about 5000 in 1975 and has increased to about 25000 now due to measures to stop their being harvested.

 

No it's not. It's like being upset at RJ Reynolds for using Joe the Camel to market cigarettes to children. Leaf is using a fictitionalized animal to sell a car which Panders (thank you Paul Tsongas) to a new world order pseudo scientificly based fascism.