Nissan's Israeli Ad Agency and Shai Agassi Take T. Boone Pickens' Side of the Oil Issue

Tom Friedman recently opined that the world needs more Shai Agassis and T. Boones to get us off Arab Oil, the crack cocaine of the Western World. Meanwhile, the price of oil has come in a bit and my favorite ETF -  (DUG) oil ultrashort - has gone up. People could forget that the dependence on Arab oil is still a big problem.

Along comes Israeli ad agency Inbar with a great comedic commercial for the Nissan Tiida car to really drive the point home.

As many know, Renault Nissan is teaming with great Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi on Project Better Place in an ambitious electric vehicle project. In the meantime though, Nissan is pitching its Tiida car as a gas-saving alternative. The best representation of this, which is causing quite a stir now in the Arab world (including a boycott threat), is an Israeli commercial for the car. It is very funny and I think it really drives home the message that high priced oil will drive people to develop fuel saving technologies. I translated it below.

 

 

Translation from Hebrew:

"You destroyed my house. May the Lord destroy yours.

May the hawks drill you day and night

May the sun melt you

And the one who created you

May the lord take you

Cursed be the father of Tiida."

Comments

[Jeff Dearborn:]

Hi Michael,

I guess one person's "funny" is another person's highly offensive material.

As an Israeli, who is sensitive to caricature style "jew" depictions, I find this stereotypical and offensive too. Oil is not "Arab". It is also, Venezuelan, and even Texan. It is bad for all of us on the planet. It is our crack and it is the OPEC crack as well, actually.

There is a beautiful message in getting rid of Oil dependence. There's no need to attack or make fun of anyone. I would keep the positive, non-offensive and universal angle: green, saving money, great for the environment, sustainable.... this way everyone wins.

Of course, the more controversial this ad becomes, the more publicity it would get, so obviously the ad agency did what's actually works best for them. It is sad, but true.

2008 Aug 07 02:45 PM

[noam:]

I think this is a great ad!! BTW, the translation is not from Hebrew but from Arabic.

2008 Aug 07 06:47 PM

[Paul Killinger:]

Energy is energy, my friends.

Instead of debasing oil as "crack," we should extol its many virtues. Indeed, without oil, there would BE no modern world.

The opulent lifestyles we take for granted were unimaginable for all of human history until just over a century ago, when we learned to harness the energy in oil. Only an idiot could suggest this was a coincidence.

Today oil is contained in virtually EVERY product in modern life. You don't have to believe me, just LOOK around you!

Someday oil will no longer be essential to improving the human condition. Technology will have found a way to move beyond it by producing more efficient forms of energy.

Meanwhile, a little respect would be nice for the substance that moved us out of the technological Dark Ages and into modernity.

2008 Aug 09 08:45 AM