The Washington Post (11-14-02)
The Reliable Source
Lloyd Grove, Washington Post Staff Writer

Los Angeles pundit Arianna Huffington, who until last year drove a gas-guzzling Lincoln Navigator, has joined forces with Hollywood producer Laurence Bender and environmental activist Laurie David, wife of comedy auteur Larry David, to produce television commercials urging patriotic Americans to get their SUVs off the road and, for the sake of national security, drive fuel-efficient vehicles instead.

"Three weeks ago I wrote a column and asked this rhetorical question: What about a people's ad campaign?" Huffington, now a 50-miles-per-gallon Toyota Prius owner, told us yesterday from her Brentwood, Calif., home. "So we've started a little nonprofit called the SUV Ad Campaign, and we've raised $ 35,000 in small donations with no effort at all."

Talk about fuel-efficient! The ads -- which "Got Milk?" campaign creator Scott Burns has agreed to direct pro bono, Huffington said -- are styled as biting parodies of the latest government-supported public service announcements linking illegal drugs to all manner of murder and mayhem.

One script calls for "quick cuts of various people in their SUVs looking out the window talking to camera and driving away. . . . Their deliveries should be mindlessly cheerful -- Person 1: 'I helped hijack an airplane.' Person 2: 'I helped blow up a nightclub.' Person 3: 'I funded a terrorist training camp in a foreign country.' . . . Group: 'And we did it all just by driving our SUVs.' Super 1: 'Where does the money you spend on gasoline really wind up?' Stock footage of terrorist training camp. Super 2: 'The biggest weapon of mass destruction is parked in your driveway.' " Huffington acknowledged that their crusade will be a difficult one -- especially in the precincts of Brentwood and Beverly Hills. "They're wildly popular here. The dealers can't even keep the Hummers in stock, they're selling so fast. SUVs are parked all over the place. But it's not like you need an SUV to drive to Starbucks."

We wondered: Will Huffington's campaign extend to corporate jets, which burn thousands of gallons an hour? "I don't have one, but if one is already going somewhere and there's a free seat, we would not refuse to take the trip. What's the logic of that?" Huffington answered. "Right now we're focused on SUVs. One step at a time."