Car Wars - VW v Greenpeace

These entertaining commercials by Volkswagen (VW) and Greenpeace provide opportunities to discuss with and demonstrate to students the importance of stakeholders, marketing, public relations, CSR and much more…

VW produced one of the most popular TV advertisements of 2011 with their Star Wars themed Passat ad, aired during the USA SuperBowl final. The ad was uploaded to YouTube in advance of the final (an unusual move, as these ads are normally kept secret for maximum impact) and has had more than 43 million views on YouTube.

Greenpeace, the international envirinmental pressure group, was quick to release its own Star Wars themed ad, criticising VW’s stance on global emissions targets.

These “VW: The Dark Side” ads have been followed up by blog posts on the Greenpeace website (BP and others are also featured at http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/climate) and a film competition, See VW Differently, where the public have been invited to create their own films criticising VW’s green credentials. Here’s an example:

VW - See through the greenwash from William Garratt on Vimeo.

Students could be asked to research VW’s CSR report and draft a press release, create a short video or role play a press conference defending its environmental record. Great material here for debates on CSR, marketing and more.