It seems that Land Rover – or at least advertising agents acting on their behalf – have made a right mess of Moel Eilio – one of Snowdonia’s iconic peaks that offers 360-degree views across Snowdonia.
The view’s so good up there that Land Rover’s advertising agency chose it for a film shoot.
Let’s be clear: they did not do anything illegal. They secured the landowner’s permission and the National Park Authority knew about the filming weeks in advance.
The problem is that a prominent British Brand like Land Rover should know better. They have – after all – had problems with their environmental record in the past (Greenpeace occupied their Range Rover plant in Solihull in 2005 over their ‘gas guzzling’ cars), and they must be aware that driving 4 x 4 in National Parks is contentious, to say the least.
They may claim to be a socially responsible company and one that takes it’s environmental responsibility seriously. The problem is though that they simply haven’t thought things through.
It’s easy to picture what happened. The advertising agency came up with the idea of shooting a Land Rover Defender on top of this amazing peak in Snowdonia. Land Rover thought, “yeah, great idea”. Someone would have checked if it was allowed and sought the appropriate permissions.
But no one actually thought about the environmental damage or cost of such a shoot and – perhaps more importantly – what example or message does it send to others.
Anyone giving this half a moment’s thought would have realised that it would probably enrage – or at least upset – the wide range of people and organisations who cherish our National Parks. It would also encourage Land Rover owners and other irresponsible 4 x 4 owners to think that it’s absolutely fine to churn pristine environments for commercial better or driving pleasure.
Whatever way you look at it, Land Rover have messed up.
Land Rover is an iconic and successful brand. Allowing this shoot to take place will allow others to brand them as being environmentally and socially irresponsible.
For a full account of this sorry episode follow these links….
http://www.ukhillwalking.com/articles/page.php?id=6810&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-30061717