I didn't get the sense here that consumer has to live in a cave. I got the sense that the consumer needs to be aware that they are more than a consumer, but a human being who is a member of a larger community that he/she to which he/she is accountable whether he/she likes it or not. A person's consumption affects the environment and hence, other people.

Right NOW, consumers are living in a cave, (or rather an island.) They need to see beyond the boundaries of their own individual lives to understand how their behavior affects others.

Of course the politicians behind these ads know this. Their point is not to engender conservation, but to serve as a disguised political ad that says: "Concern about climate change is hip; we are concerned about climate change; we are hip; vote for us!"

There is one and only one effective means of engendering conservation: raising energy prices. Cool ads are really cool and... useless, indeed counterproductive. If you wand to engender conservation, email your democratic representative and encourage him or her to demand that the oil majors raise gas prices.

(By the way, why don't they have a shot of someone exhaling a baloon, or of a sheep farting out a baloon?)

Totally. All we need to do is plant trees with Sargon Bighorn.

People who live in green houses shouldn't throw Goth birthday parties.