¶          “It’s nice to know the environment also impacts the auto industry."  No, it is not a New Year resolution of the Sierra Club, and it is not a prophecy of the world beyond the millennium either.   It is, however, the introduction statement of a Saturn ad in the September 1, 1997, edition of the magazine U.S. News and World Report   It is a car ad, and like most car ads, it has a wide two-page span with a picture as its centerpiece.  Unlike other car ads, though, the feature of the picture is not of a maximized and elongated shot of a shiny and luxurious vehicle, but of a serene panorama of a countryside.  

Its intended audience is very broad, ranging from senior citizens to the sweet sixteens who just got their driver’s licenses.  However, it appeals most strongly to people who are environmentally conscious, such as “green” activists or sympathizers.  In an era as environmental as the one of today, it is no doubt that such a group forms a massive faction of the society. 

The purpose of the ad, therefore, is to persuade this mass audience to believe that Saturn, and only Saturn so far, is making an effort to improve this world. To accomplish such a purpose, this Saturn ad constructs ethos by taking a new and revolutionary approach, uses facts to create logos to support its claim, and most of all, ignites pathos in the public by declaring that it is environmentally friendly.

¶            Saturn owns strong ethos from the fact that it has been a long existing car producer and one of the best known American car brands.  It uses its background to its advantage by coming up with a rural, simple, and informal picture and text to create a nostalgia of the good ol’ simple America.  While other car companies stuff their ads with extravaganza and buoyancies such as “prestige” and “glamour”,  Saturn decides to bring it down to earth by focusing on our surrounding nature and environment.  Such focus is evident on the ad by the pictures of birdhouses, wheat, recycle box, and the beautiful panorama that depicts such flawless harmony between human and nature.  The newest  car brand, usually the main focus on other car ads, is only a minute illustration at the end of the text in this ad.

¶             By presenting itself in such a simple, informal, concise way, Saturn really gives people the impression that it is still a caring and conventional company despite the ever-changing and revolutionizing technologies in car industry.  By making environment its main focus, Saturn erases the general stereotype that big corporations are always and only profit oriented and cares about nothing else.  Saturn further strengthens its claim by quoting: “...We’re the only car plant we know of to employ a full-time farmer."  The general public delights in hearing such notions, because it truly shows that Saturn is willing to give everybody a chance, even someone who is not a techie.  Overall, this ad presents Saturn as a conventional, trustworthy, and environmental company.

¶            Another factor that makes this ad so outstanding is its strong pathos that appeals to our nostalgia.  Even though today we live in a very modern and advanced society, such technologies have only been around for only in the last half of the century or so.  On the other hand, humans have lived and thrived around nature for thousands of years, and it has become an indispensable part of our soul and our life.  Even for the yuppies among us, there is a yearning deep down inside to return to nature.   News about technology advances no longer interest us. The flawless contour, the dignified aura, the magnificent design and other pompous exclamations that a regular car ad would declare bore and irritate us.  The feeling this Saturn ad intends to ignite in the public is one of joy and refreshment, the sense of longing in mesmerizing our past.  It depicts a couple of children running freely by a small pond, located in the middle of a thriving meadow under a crystalline blue sky.  The landscape is clear and boundless, without any hideous obstruction of geometrical objects.  It is one scenery that echoes with our innermost desire.  The smooth pond, the freewheeling kids, the grains of wheat, and the simple yet humane birdhouse all suggest an easy-going, stress-less lifestyle, something precious that is lost in many of us.  In a way, the ad brings out the nostalgia in everyone to the simple yet fulfilling lifestyle of the past.

¶            While the scenery and the ideas make everyone relaxed and refreshed, Saturn creates even more joy and enthusiasm in us by making visible efforts to preserve the things as they use to be.  It is a known fact that car industry is one of the heavy sources of pollution that had been destroying and corroding our environment since modernization.  However, such industries, despite the heavy profits they earn, often dodge environmental issues as much as they can.  Saturn’s move to befriend the environment is long overdue, but it is a beginning.  By leading such a significant revolution, Saturn imprints a deep impression in the mind and heart of the general public.  In addition to promote the image of the company, this ad can also serve as an inspiration to the other car companies and the whole corporation world as a persuasion to follow suit.

¶             To inspire such pathos in people, there must be logos to support  and prove that Saturn is indeed making an effort to preserve and improve the environment.  A data from the text states: “Last year alone, we recycled, reused or reclaimed almost 59,503 tons of material."  Then immediately after that, there was a description of how a Saturn car plant was built in a way to “Keep it from spoiling your view....by excavating soil, building hills and transplanting trees already on site."   They were so thoughtful that: “Heck, we even put birdhouses up all around."

¶             At the first look, it may seem that the logos is the weakest part of this ad, but Saturn creates that for a purpose.  In other car ads, the logos is often the strongest, sometimes the only, element in the text.  The general public has been so bombarded by these facts that it is pretty much indifferent about it.  Who really cares if a car has 125 horsepower while another has only 100? Who would really feel the difference between sitting in a car with 200 cube feet than sitting in one that has 250?  What is the use to have a car with a V-8 engine in a country that has speed limits and cops everywhere?  By putting the few most essential facts, Saturn is really making a point that it is unique from other cars.  It is a simple, concise company, just like its message.

¶            This Saturn ad has broken the routine of a regular car ad.  It does not focus on its car, but on the environment.  It does not maximize a grandiose, elegant vehicle.  Instead, it features roaming kids within the beautiful realm of nature.  It shows that Saturn has started a revolution, one that will install hope among people toward the environment, and in the same time persuade other corporations to follow Saturn’s path.  It portrays the environmental mind set Saturn has adopted, with the description of some construction procedures that took place in one of its car plants.  They replanted trees, built hills, and excavated soils; and all these works are just for our viewing pleasure.  Like the self proclamation the ad made it in the end, Saturn is indeed “A Different Kind of Company.  A Different Kind of Car.”