Prius flower power -- Eco-advertising takes to the freeways of California

No doubt you've seen the Toyota Prius television campaign of "human pixels" -- humans dressed as grass and flowers making a nice "wave" as the new 2010 Toyota Prius drives by. Our car critic and advertising columnist Dan Neil names it as his "favorite commercial of the year" in his column today and mentions how perfectly Toyota has expressed its tag line, "Harmony between man, nature and machine."

With California ranking as Prius' largest sales market, another leg of the new Prius campaign takes this theme a bit further and actually helps to put some money in the coffers of our ailing state. While promising to "brighten our commute" with 30-by-60-foot floral murals that depict a vaguely shaped Prius sitting on a hill with a green sunburst surrounding it.

Toyota's partnership with Greenroad Media of Santa Monica includes the upkeep of nine urban freeway sections, which basically consists of maintaining and repairing corresponding irrigation and landscape in exchange for using the ground as a floral billboard. Caltrans does not allow any product identification in the actual floral designs, but a nearby sign with the Prius name proudly displayed is installed nearby. “Through this innovative partnership with Toyota, we are able to improve the look of freeway landscape, make necessary upgrades to aging or damaged irrigation systems, and save tax dollars,” said Raja Mitwasi, Caltrans chief deputy district director.

The first of seven Southern California "Harmony Floralscapes" was unveiled earlier this week along the west side of the Pasadena (110) Freeway, just north of the 101 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles by Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, and officials from Caltrans, Toyota Motor Sales, USA Inc. and Greenroad Media Inc.

 Other Los Angeles-area Floralscape locations include:

    * north side of the Santa Monica (10) Freeway, east of Lincoln Boulevard exit;
    * east side of the San Diego (405) Freeway at Orange Street;
    * north side of the Ventura (101) Freeway, west of Balboa Boulevard;
    * south side of the Santa Monica (10) Freeway, east of Overland Drive exit;
    * north side of the Pomona (60) Freeway at Lorena Street exit;
    * south side of the Foothill (210) Freeway, at the Los Robles Avenue on ramp.

The San Francisco-area Floralscapes are still under construction, but will be on the south side of the Redwood (101) Freeway at Novato Boulevard in Marin County, and the other will be on the north side of the Junipero Serra (280) Freeway at the Winchester Avenue exit in Santa Clara County.

Each mural includes of about 20,000 blooms and are grown by local businesses in the modular "Eco-crates" made from recycled plastic. The Floralscapes are created from organic and reusable materials and are maintained using ecologically friendly techniques, including the use of non-potable water, solar electricity and ecologically responsible insect and fungi control. California-based businesses are contracted to install and maintain the Floralscapes. The nonprofit Los Angeles Conservation Corps, which provides training, education and work experience to at-risk young adults and school-age youth, will maintain the areas surrounding the Floralscapes.

So, is it urban beautification or another way to use L.A.'s freeway for outdoor advertising space? Hmmm... probably both.

-- Joni Gray

Photo: Toyota Prius floralscape. 
Photo credit: Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times

Photo: Toyota Prius floralscape on Pasadena Freeway.
Photo credit: PR Newswire

Comments

[stilldreaming]

Humans dancing in synch might be a beautiful spectacle--and a good activity if directed towards the proverbial "good."

But I find the Toyota horrifying. I cringe everytime it comes on. Why? Because it reminds me of the MISSING natural world.

It reminds me of the species we humans killed. It reminds me of the rapidly dwindling open space humans pave over, build on, replace small farms with factory farms.

If human population growth doesn't slow soon to a zero growth rate, the Toyota ad might well be the world we'll have to live in. A horror scenario .. even if somehow we figure how to get the food we need and how to recycle our waste.

And don't forget .. the Chinese Olympic extravaganza, yes, fascinating .. but only possible because the country is a dictatorship. A communist state where the state can order people to perform.

I prefer the Amercan Dream: independent, free human beings having a choice of living in modern cities or in traditional ranches surrounded by open space free of pollution.

[Dennis Hathaway]

This just represents another step in the outdoor advertising industry's quest to use freeways and other public spaces as a venue for commercial messages. Caltrans can insist that no product identification is allowed in these "floralscapes" but that piece of sophistry won't slow down sign company lawyers who have cited such exceptions to freeway advertising bans in numerous lawsuits challenging restrictions on billboards and other signs aimed at freeway drivers.

It's also dismaying that Caltrans did nothing earlier this year to investigate the criminal cutting of full-grown trees on freeway right-of-ways for the obvious purpose of improving the visibility of nearby supergraphic signs, but is eager to facilitate schemes to turn over more and more public space to advertisers.

Dennis Hathaway
President, Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight
www.banbillboardblight.org