Advertising has seen its share of product wars over the years, and the latest is getting more heated by the day.
"First we had the cola wars," says Marty Cooke, CCO of SS+K, N.Y. "Now we have the coal wars."
The pitched battle is being fought by the coal industry and environmental groups, which hope to sway public opinion about the viability of clean coal as an energy source. The American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), a consortium of industries involved in the production of electricity from coal, has been arguing that coal is not only the most abundant and affordable energy resource available, but one that's getting cleaner by the day. On the other side are environmental groups like the Reality Coalition, whose members include the Alliance for Climate Protection and the Sierra Club, and the Waterkeeper Alliance, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. They have focused their efforts on debunking the coal campaign with ads that argue clean coal is a myth.
This week, the ACCCE is breaking a new TV commercial, "Percussion at Work," part of its year-and-a-half-year-old "America's power" campaign. The timely, audio-driven ad focuses on the U.S. workforce, and argues that the economy is inextricably linked to the future of the coal industry. The ad shows a montage of people working in various jobs that depend on electricity and drives the imagery with the rhythmic sounds of their machines.
"It provides a visual and auditory tapestry of how electricity is ... interwoven into the American economy and [shows how] those jobs are powered half the time with ... coal," says Joe Lucas, vp of communications at the Alexandria, Va.-based organization, a group of energy, transportation and equipment manufacturing companies. According to Lucas, ACCCE's communications budget was nearly $40 million last year, with about $18 million spent supporting TV advertising. "It is really about how our economy is dependent on affordable energy and affordable energy begins with coal."
Another commercial in rotation shows footage of President Obama, whose stimulus plan includes a $3.4 billion investment in clean coal technology, expressing his support for the concept while on the campaign trail last year in Virginia.
While the "America's Power" campaign, created by R&R Partners, White + Partners and Virilion, hits the heartland with patriotic pleas, anti-coal ads have taken an edgier approach. Skewing younger in tone and style, the irony-steeped spots from Crispin Porter + Bogusky argue that "clean" coal simply doesn't exist.
The "Reality" campaign is funded by the Reality Coalition, which includes the Alliance for Climate Protection, League of Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Defense Council, the National Wildlife Federation and the Sierra Club. It began last December. It includes outdoor ads featuring mythical creatures like a mermaid and an alien holding coal and online banners that appear when users get "404" errors if they request Web pages that no longer exist (just like clean coal, the ads argue).
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