One Sunday near the beginning of every year, network television offers nearly three hours of unparalleled excitement and entertainment. Each year, viewers ride waves of emotion, laughing, crying, at times spluttering with indignation, as a new and magical scene unfolds before them. The only catch is that you have to sit through a (usually mediocre [1]) football game in order to be a part of it all.

Super Bowl ads represent some of America's most notable characteristics: creativity, innovation, and startling amounts of blatantly hyped, disgusting uber-consumerism. This year I spotted a new trend. The automotive industry seems to have stepped up its efforts toward eco-friendliness (of course there were certain exceptions [2]). It began before the end of the first quarter with an ad we'd already heard about [3] and continued from there. Some SUV ads [4] boasted about fuel economy; GM [5] (who owns Hummer [6], for what it's worth…) chimed in with a pitch for Ethanol 85 [7] – a corn based alternative fuel; and in an ad for the Ford Escape Hybrid, Kermit the Frog discovered that it is easy being green [8], after all.

Considering the President's recent State of the Union speech [9], I'm tempted to think that something is actually changing; people who I never thought would acknowledge a problem with burning fossil fuels are – at least superficially – looking for solutions. I have to admit, some of my cynicism has been brushed away by the fact that these costly ads [10] were meant to be seen by everybody who watches the Super Bowl – nearly half of all Americans. It seems that, from even the most pessimistic point of view, mainstream society is opening up to a discussion about cars and the environment. What do you think? Is the auto industry coming around, or are these companies sprucing up their images because they smell a different type of green? And if so, is that bad, as long as they do make changes? Let us know in the comment board below.