The Greenest of Superbowl 2009

During Superbowl this year, I was a contender of a 3-team chili cookoff in Brooklyn, where my team, The New Presidents, won with our all-organic chili, The Lamb of God. I won't apologize about our braised grass-fed New Zealand lamb shanks--it is simply the best that's available. Some may argue that since New Zealand farms can raise lamb more efficiently, it is greener than buying local. When all was said and done, the 24 judges awarded us with a sweep in all three categories: originality, taste and presentation.
Moving onto the Superbowl, it was the most watched television program in history with 151.6 million viewers. It happens to be the second highest day of food consumption in the US behind Thanksgiving. $55 million is spent on food and most of it is eaten within the first 15 minutes of the game. Our organic chili, The Lamb of God, required a $151 Whole Foods run. Over then course of the day, I drank at least 24 beers. To my credit, I did ride my bicycle out to Brooklyn but I had to take a cab home. So much for being green.
I was so busy celebrating our chili's victory that I didn't watch the game or any of its ads. My guess is that Superbowl is not the perfect moment for green messaging. First, a million dollar commercial spot is not the best time to share your company's budget with a green cause. And second, judging by the aperture moment and the audience, who really cares? According to the Nielsen IAG ad ratings, the top ads included Budweiser, Dorritos, Pepsi and Careerbuilder.com. What else can you expect? From the ones I saw online, they were quite funny. As expected, there were plenty of car ads from many car makers, but none for hybrids or fuel efficient cars.
The greenest ad, which hardly makes the cut, comes from GE. In this ad, a scarecrow sings and dances around a powerplant touting GE's smart grid technology. Not bad and certainly better than my carbon intensive experience on Superbowl Sunday.