Observations in Advertising: Ecotricity's "Collapsing Cooling Towers" YouTube Video

Ecotricity (a UK renewable energy company) recently launched a "Dump the Big 6" ad campaign to get electricity consumers to switch over to Ecotricity's renewable energy services.

Part of their ad campaign is this YouTube video:

While I think the creative component of the ad is great, there's a few peculiarities that are both self-evident to "energy buffs" and the average YouTube viewer.

#1: Nuclear power as a fossil fuel?

Ecotricity's caption below the video reads:

"It's time to move on. Our country, and all of us, need to move from a fossil fuel past to a renewable energy future."

However, the cooling towers being demolished in Ecotricity's video happen to belong to nuclear power plants...

Nuclear power is not a fossil fuel.

So there's one thing.

As for a few other peculiarities, I'll leave that to actual YouTube comments:

#2: Deceptive advertising? Censorship?

As you can see from the YouTube comment with 48 "thumbs up," Ecotricity is being called out on deceptive advertising.

True, three wind turbines will not produce more power than a nuclear power plant.

As far as the censorship is concerned, I don't know what was originally posted by this particular YouTube user, if their comment was even removed, or why it was removed...but I won't bother to find out because it's not that big of a deal.

Nonetheless, while governments do pass laws against deceptive advertising, I don't think Ecotricity will need to worry about legal issues.

#3: Conflicting messages?

As you can see with the last two YouTube comments, some viewers of Ecotricity's video feel "sorry" for the cooling towers being demolished and in turn gain sympathy for the symbolic energy sources Ecotricity is campaigning against.

BACKFIRE....Ouch.

Even though cooling towers are intimate objects, I'll have to take the advice of Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird...

"If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." - Atticus Finch

With that, I'll try to think about if I was the first cooling tower in the beginning of the video:

How would I feel if I was waking up in the morning to some classical music and a "spot o tea" with my hunny bunny when suddenly...

I'm being destroyed by the forces of high powered, primary explosives.

NOT GOOD.

But, if you ask me, I think #3 might also be due to the video's music.

With that, in the words of Missy Elliot:

"REEEEEEEMIIIIIIIXXX"

Here's my "Wind Frontiers" remix:

Proper recognition to:

Drowning Pool's "Bodies" as the best candidate for a remix song

Honorable mentions go to:

Head East's "Never Been Any Reason" and their catchy yet fitting lyric:

"Save my life I'm going down for the last time..."

Colbie Caillat's "Fallin' For You" for the applicable lyrics, song title, and even near-perfect timing to fit the duration of Ecotricity's video.

Fall Out Boy's "Sugar, We're going down" for their aptly fitting lyrics:

"We're going down down......down down......down down..."

AND their band name that fits well with the nuclear power theme.

So that's that.

"Advertising....hell of a business huh?"

-Unknown