Green Police focused on ‘protecting and conserving the Earth’ are now a part of modern life, or at least that’s what a series of tongue-in-cheek public service announcements by Audi would have us believe. The end game? These teasers running on YouTube (www.youtube.com/greenpolice) are leading up to the Audi Green Police Super Bowl ad that spotlights Green Car Journal’s 2010 Green Car of the Year winner, the clean diesel Audi TDI.

The YouTube videos include one focused on ‘napkin abuse,’ which warns against taking more than a single napkin per sandwich – or burrito, or pizza slice, or fish taco – because this leads to more than a billion pounds of napkins in landfills. And those power strips in your home or office? According to these white-shirted, green-focused officials they’re nothing less than ‘Mother Nature haters’ that facilitate CO2 emissions and harm the environment.

They’re pure fiction, of course. But that seems to have escaped many viewers who have commented on what an issue it is to be told how to live their lives by the Green Police. Score one for Audi, because that buzz will set the stage for the Audi Super Bowl ad that follows.

The Audi Super Bowl ad promises to be memorable, something we’ve come to expect from ads at this highest of high-profile sports venues that reaches 100 million viewers worldwide. Green Police on the trail of eco-violators may be pure imagination, but they’ll surely be front-and-center during Super Bowl XLIV as the A3 TDI’s environmental credentials shine under their spotlight. Adding to the cool factor of this piece is the ‘Green Police’ theme song by Cheap Trick, which the legendary rock band reworked from its 1979 hit ‘Dream Police.’

Audi’s A3 TDI has earned its environmental credentials and its 2010 Green Car of the Year® distinction. Its 2.0-liter TDI engine provides drivers substantial low-end torque for an enjoyable driving experience, all the while achieving 42 mpg on the highway with reduced CO2 emissions and strict 50 state emissions certification.

Thankfully, even in an increasingly politically correct world there are no Green Police monitoring our daily activities for strict eco compliance. And the real irony? Green Police, if they really did exist in an extreme world of eco correctness, would do well to drive an efficient A3 TDI on the job.