Angry in the Great White North

I first noticed it on a commercial for the new 2010 Prius from Toyota.  I actually had to listen to it twice. 

Why get the Prius?  Because it emits dramatically fewer smog-forming emissions.

That's great news, because smog is bad...what?

What about global warming?  What about greenhouse gases?

Nothing about that.  Not a word.

So I checked online and the same corporate message is presented there -- the enemy is smog:

New Prius to Produce 70 Percent Fewer Smog-Forming Emissions

We already knew that the third generation Prius was going to be one of the most advanced models ever produced but Toyota simply wants to refresh our memory every once in a while. So today the Japanese automaker rolled out a new press statement praising the upcoming Prius but, more importantly, it also debuted some important specs concerning the new model.

Another thing worth mentioning is that Toyota claims the new Prius will produce 70 percent fewer smog-forming emissions than the average new vehicle, which does nothing more than to underline Toyota's efforts to cut polluting models and concentrate on environmentally friendly-models.

But smog is not all that important.  I mean, it makes asthma sufferers miserable, and can cause premature death, but who cares about that?

What about global warming?!

Not of word of that in the commercial.  The words "global warming" don't appear in that online article, nor do "carbon dioxide" or "climate change" or "crisis" or "imminent".

Just smog. 

Marketing professionals know what sells, and know what turns people off.  That a hybrid car is being positioned as a weapon against smog and not against global warming tells you what sells and what annoys.

I think these people recognize (through research) that consumers are fed up with the global warming noise emitted in copious quantities by the likes of Elizabeth May and Al Gore.  People don't believe in this fiction any more.  Not even the sort of people who might have enough money to buy a Prius.  Smog, on the other hamd, is real and it really hurts people;.

On the other hand, if your plan is to hurt sales of hybrid cars, then by all means go on about global warming.