Huffington, Hollywood Launch Anti-SUV Ads
Thu Jan 9, 7:37 AM ET
By Gina Keating

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A new front opened in the U.S. "War on Terror" on Wednesday as newspaper columnist Arianna Huffington and three Hollywood pals launched a TV ad campaign to stop Americans from driving SUVs because the gas-guzzling cars inadvertently aid the country's enemies.

In two spots scheduled to begin running on Sunday, Huffington and friends, collectively known as The Detroit Project, plant the idea that driving the mammoth and hot-selling vehicles is unpatriotic.

The ads, which will appear through Friday in New York, Los Angeles, Detroit and Washington D.C., parody the government's public service campaign against drug-sponsored terrorism, and aim to kindle public demand for tougher fuel efficiency.

"The goal of the campaign is not to demonize people who drive SUVs," Huffington said. "We want to point out how our driving habits at home are fueling oil money to Saudi Arabia."

One spot features a hapless SUV driver named "George" pumping gas into his vehicle while an oil company executive steps into a limousine and a group of turban-wearing soldiers fire automatic rifles into the air.

"This is George," a child says in a sing-song voice. "This is the gas that George bought for his SUV. This is the oil company executive that sold the gas that George bought for his SUV. These are the countries where the executive bought the oil, that made the gas that George bought for his SUV. And these are the terrorists who get money from those countries every time George fills up his SUV."

"Oil money supports some terrible things. What kind of mileage does your SUV get?" the ad concludes.

In a series of close-ups, the second ad explores the purported consequences of buying foreign oil, juxtaposed with excuses people make for buying SUVs: "I helped hijack an airplane." "I like to sit up high." "I helped blow up a nightclub." "It makes me feel safe." "I sent our soldiers off to war."

"What is your SUV doing to national security?" it asks. "Detroit, America needs hybrid cars now."

Disney-owned ABC-TV affiliates in New York and Los Angeles have refused to air the ads because they are too controversial, Huffington said. The spots appear Sunday on network stations and for the rest of the week on cable TV news channels.

Huffington planted the seeds for The Detroit Project in her column in October by fantasizing about a people's ad campaign taking the government to task for failing to pass tougher fuel efficiency standards while waging war to protect cheap oil.

Readers flooded her "in" basket with more than 5,000 letters by the next morning, asking where to send money for the mythical campaign. Within three weeks she had raised $200,000 to paid for a week of airtime and production of the ads. Huffington recruited her hiking pal Laurie David, who had convinced her to swap her 13 mpg Lincoln Navigator for a 50 mpg Toyota Prius, and film producer Lawrence Bender and talent agent Ari Emanuel to guide the spots through production.

Although they had budgeted $50,000 to produce the spots, written by "Got Milk?" creator Scott Burns, most of the costs were waived when people learned about the project, Burns said.

The Detroit Project founders said plans to expand the campaign to more cities or to make new ads must wait on the public's response -- and their money.

"Some people will thing we went too far. I personally wanted to be very confrontational," Bender said. "September 11 was very confrontational."

I personally think that doing anything that backstabbing turncoat Arianna Huffington wanted me to do would let the terrorists win.

I'm not all that familiar with the American justice system, but...is this even legal?

95% of SUVs are for those with more money than sense. If you are in the 5%, DO NOT respond all ticked off. Ever go OFF THE ROAD, yes = in the 5%, ever TOW HUGE THINGS, yes = in the 5%. Feel safer in an SUV, sorry, yes = in the 95%.

Dreamer, how would it NOT be legal? States spend millions a year to combat smoking, which is also actively promoted by the companies. So states are actively trying to put companies out of business. And I agree, but either way, it's legal.

Thats true of course, but its a whole different matter when company's go and stab each other in the back in commercials..

But legal when politicians do it? :D But then, somewhere you have to draw the line. It would be interesting to know how much of the "oil money" that goes to terrorist funding...

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I would like to point out, that Ms. Huffington may not in fact own a SUV, however the energy it costs to heat her brand new 9000+ square foot home and the Jet fuel that she burns in her private Jet shopping excursions and her chauffered limo service uses is about 10 times what the average SUV owning everyday Joe is consuming. What is the term?....Mercedes Marxist?
Limo leftist?

This reminds me of Babs Streisand telling everyone they should air dry their clothes on a clothes line...but she herself does not do this.

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I definitely think that is going way way too far. That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. If the government had a problem with it they could stop the gas companies, with legislation. Blaming SUV owners for supporting terrorists is one of the more ridiculous things I have heard in a long string of, mindless 'if you do this you support terrorists' rhetoric. Pretty soon every breath I take is going to be one that allegedy supports some hidden Bin Laden terrorist cell, operating within my lungs. Things like this really scare me because it shows how close we are getting to Orwell's ghastly prediciton of the future in the novel 1984. Next thing you know we are going to have to have camera's installed in every room of our house so the government can see if we are terrorists. Where does it end?

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HiHo Binks [img]smile.gif[/img] I am not in the top 5% but may be in the top 15% and No I don't take my GF's SUV off road...but it did save my life Christmas night when I hit the guardrail at 40 miles an hour.....My CAR had a totaled front end when a guy hit me in the parking lot at less than 10 miles per hour.

A person should be allowed to use an SUV if they want in the USA. Some people actually need the room...with 5 dogs, a trip to the vet would be out of the question in any of the proposed Electric cars...not to mention trying to fit more than 100 pounds of dog food into a compact car is just ludicrous.</font>