Coens Commercial Claims Clean Coal Campaign Is Claptrap

Phil Nugent — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:30:00 GMT

The next feature from the Coen brothers, A Serious Man, is set for release this fall, but in the meantime, the Coens have made time to direct a public service announcement for The Reality Coalition, a recently minted organization composed of five environmental groups, whose mission is to combat the idea that there is such a thing as "clean coal." The Coens didn't write the ad, but they must have decided that the script was a neat fit for them after it was sent to them by Crispin Porter + Bogusy, the ad firm representing the Coalition. The firm also put out the short making-of film above, apparently for the benefit of Coen brothers fans who might need such concepts as parody and irony explained to them in one-syllable words. (You also get the thrill of hearing Ethan instruct someone that their line reading should be "a little queased out.") Here's the spot itself:

The Screengrab : the reality coalition

Coens Commercial Claims Clean Coal Campaign Is Claptrap