NBC Goes For The Green

As if NBC's "Deal or No Deal" host, Howie Mandel, wasn't reptilian enough. This Friday, "Deal or No Deal" heightens the suspense with a guest appearance from Kermit the Frog. The message --"It's easy being green"-- is a dim take on the frog's famous lament about his unusual skin tone.

Kermit's cameo is part of NBC Universal's newest environmental campaign, "Green is Universal." In addition to environmentally streamlining operations worldwide, the corporation, owned by General Electric, has unleashed a week-long green-programming blitz across all NBC affiliated television shows, stations, and networks. From Telemundo to Bravo to the Cartoon Network, NBC has rolled out a green carpet for their widely diverse viewing public.

The green-media bombardment literally kicked off this past Sunday, when "Football Night in America: Philadelphia vs. Dallas" went dark for one minute--as if to offset blaring stadium lights and the energy used to feed Philadelphia's linebackers. During halftime, Dallas Cowboy's cheerleaders physically interpreted the global warming crisis with a Rockettes-style kick-line at midfield. "R-E-C-Y-C-L-E/ It's our planet/ let's plant a tree!"

"Echoing green across the screen" seems to be NBC's move. Starting Monday morning, "The Today Show" will broadcast Matt Lauer from the Arctic, Ann Curry from Antarctica, and Al Roker from the equator (hmmmm, I wonder who got lucky on this one?). In a simultaneous global circumference television event, the anchors chatted over climate change and species extinction.

Those outside of prime time are getting in on the action, too. The Sci Fi Channel had an "aware" episode of "Flash Gordon" followed by a "Dangerously Changing Planet" movie night. Bravo's Tim Gunn tells us to "Make it work . . . for the planet;" while "SVU" wants us to police for polluters. Even "Jerry Springer" is "going green."

Get ready though, because tomorrow, November 8th, the Peacock goes fully green as the entire Thursday night lineup - "The Office," "My Name Is Earl," "30 Rock," "Heroes" and "Deal or No Deal" gets an eco-theme. The environmental Godfather himself, Al Gore, will even cameo on comedy show "30 Rock."

In addition to producing an overwhelming 150 hours of environmentally-focused television, NBC Universal has also teamed up with sustainability consultancy, Green Order, best known for helping organizations from Walmart to The Environmental Protection Agency. The corporation plans to build its new West Coast Headquarters under the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED(R) guidelines.

Of course NBC's "Green is Universal" campaign is a juicy example of green-washing hypocrisy. Perhaps criticism is inevitable when a major General Electric-owned television corporation claims to "go green." On the other hand, I must admit I am quite excited to tune in to tomorrow's must-see eco-marathon. Yes, Hayden Panettiere and "Heroes" gives me the heaves, but I applaud any corporation that takes massive and public steps to educate others and green its operations worldwide.

So congratulations NBC and keep it coming. Whoot whoot! Come Friday and after 150 hours of green-themed TV, I'll most likely have a less enthusiastic response.

To learn more about what NBC Universal is doing and to view the NBC green-programming schedule, visit NBC's Green Is Universal website.

Follow Olivia Zaleski on Twitter: www.twitter.com/oliviazaleski

Comments

[godlessclif]

What happened to the old GE slogan.
Profit is our most important product.

[PureOne]

Recently I made the decision to give up my dependency on the automotive commute. I made the decision to localize my lifestyle by riding my bike everywhere that I possibly could. San Diego traffic, gas prices, insurance rates, countless parking tickets are just a few reasons for me GOING GREEN. I had the pleasure of speaking with Sami Tauber, CEO of Bikewear World the other day. Her sincerity and passion to help San Diegans become more environmentally and health conscious really confirmed my own desire to stop contributing to oil dependency, air pollution and a host of other negatives related to driving and start Biking!

[SeanGardner]

Thanks for this post.

With the people, big corporations and governments enagaged on this issue, its bound to make a difference.

Great to see a major TV Network aggressively getting on the Green bandwagon.

[miltshook]

I think it's a good thing, and not just for the sake of global warming. The last environmental movement brought about a lot of major change that was great for the air, water and the economy, and we should have kept it going. People need to start thinking about what they do, from little things like switching out light bulbs and turning them off when not in use, to big things like demanding that car companies produce nothing but hybrid and electric cars within a decade. Anything to get people thinking about it is a good thing. If they make money from it, great. We are a capitalist economy, after all...

Oh, one small note; Cartoon Network is not part of NBC Universal; it's owned by Time Warner.

[NoPCZone]

Correction:
Slogan should be "Greed is Universal" and it's corollary-
"Greed is GE"

The old saying about GE
"You can buy better, but you can't pay more."

[Boadicea]

This is terrific - I think it should be a featured post on the blog this week, to raise awareness of this, to encourage network involvement by giving them some free advertising, and mostly, because more people will watch, and that's the whole idea!

Thanks for posting.

And let me add, LIVING WITH ED on HGTV is a terrific way to learn how to have a more eco-friendly existence. A couple of weeks ago, Helen Hunt was on the show, and she had a "green assessment" of her living habits, etc. Anyone can have that done, it was very interesting. We learned all about how and why to do something even more exciting than granite in our new kitchen on another show. Green building materials, eco-friendly habits, all made easy on LIVING WITH ED. I wouldn't miss it.

[GeoNorth]

I have been involved with media for over 35 years. It's a good thing to see a major network like NBC do the green thing. There is no mystery why. Parent company GE is poised to reap huge profits from the green industry if green catches on. This is not necessarily a bad thing. There is a great industry waiting to happen in ecology. everything from wind to solar to hydro and a few other things that the mad scientists at GE will think of. Though I have seen the same corporate shenanigans that we have all witnessed in the last century, we have to recognize that reversing the damage that we have caused on this planet will cost a lot of money. I don't have it and neither do you, so we have to welcome this interesting campaign of green. I hope I'm not wrong.