Reasonable people can agree when a maxim has popped a flat tire and there's no need to pump it back up. When corporations first started "going green"--was BP the first with the "It's a Start"
campaign?--the phrase "green is the new black" had some juice.
Now, please let it go. And for that matter, stop saying anything is the "new black." That's so 1999.
So, give a demerit to General Motors, its Saturn brand and Bravo for rolling it out in a vignette during a break in an episode of the network's "Project Runway."
Saturn is, as Bravo
calls it, a "fully integrated" sponsor of the show, now in its fifth season. Part of its full integration involves giving the winner a 2009 Vue hybrid. Another is airing a series of vignettes with
contestants from past seasons who are charged with creating a design inspired by a Saturn model.
During the Aug. 27 episode, it was Chris March's turn (he's from season four). His inspiration
was the Vue, a rather standard-looking SUV that would hardly stand out in the supermarket parking lot. But it is a hybrid, which prompts him to use "all organic and sustainable fabrics" to create an
outfit.
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When finished, he puts on the duds and poses for the camera. Not bad, he thinks.
Then, comes: "Remember, guys, green is the new black."
Oh, the agony.
Moldy
phrase aside, GM and Saturn's roles in the episode certainly were no gratuitous vanity play. It had a clear purpose: to advance GM's seemingly ubiquitous message that it's environmentally friendly.
(When you're losing green hand over fist, why not go green?)
In the green vein, GM was the first advertiser to commit as a sponsor of Discovery's new Planet Green network. That's according to
an interview that Discovery Vice President of Programming David Russell gave. Russell said the deal provided GM with opportunities for integrations, while Discovery created some long-form ads for GM
that helped "get (its) corporate message out."
On the "Runway" episode, GM tries to hammer home a message that it's a supporter of recycling.
Contestants were challenged to create an
outfit using discarded Saturn car parts. The task is introduced by Saturn's lead color designer, Chris Webb, who says that 85% "by weight" of Vue hybrids "are recyclable in today's environment."
Pointing to a group of Vues (one of the top product placements of the week, according to measurement firm iTVX), he tells the designers: "You'll be recycling these vehicles to make an outfit
of your choice."
The contestants are then given four minutes to rummage through the hybrids to grab as many old parts--dashboard detritus, floor mats, etc.--that they can before they head to
the studio. Seat belts are particularly popular.
Then, they go to work mixing, matching and stitching. The results look pretty good.
"Saturn Vue style" is what one contestant calls it.
The phrase is at least a fresh one.
Product | Show | Q-Ratio |
Saturn | Project
Runway | 13.2691 |
Toyota Sequoia | Run's House | 2.2349 |
Duncan Hines | The Colbert Report | 1.7656 |
Carfax | Reality Bites Back | 1.4923 |
GMC Yukon | The Cleaner | 1.4165 |
Click
here to view these placements. Data and analysis provided by iTVX.