"Does this Diesel ad campaign trivialize global warming, or represent the sort of jaunty, can-do, life-goes-on attitude necessary to confront a changing climate?" I asked in a post back in May.
Well, five months later, I've answered this question for myself: it's a bit of the latter, mixed with a much larger and very welcome dose of self-conscious absurdity. Heck, if you wanted to deconstruct it for ideologically appropriate significance, you could find a smoothly backhanded condemnation of self-centered decadence. But why bother? In their exuberant outlandishness, the ads carve out a little mental space where it's possible for a few seconds to contemplate global warming without thinking about disease, disaster and the possibility that I'll spend my retirement years hiding from water bandits. I find that refreshing; the rest of the ads are below.
Above: China (first ad: London)
Paris
New York City
Rio de Janeiro
Antarctica
Mt. Rushmore
Venice
Venice
