LOS ANGELES – In the 70s, my dad worked for Nissan Motor Corporation in the U.S.A., also known at the time in the US and certain other parts of the world as Datsun. Dad used to bring home tons of advertising materials from the main office which he would then distribute to his group of dealers. Of course, some of the more interesting items “fell off the truck” and right into my bedroom. I would say more but the Datsun Keisatsukan may still be on active duty. Racing posters and jackets, model cars, and assorted other promotional items moved like shiny objects into my crow’s nest.

I stumbled across the bumper sticker (otherwise unretouched) in the illustration above while going through some boxes recently. In honor of Earth Day, which is tomorrow, I thought I would use the magic of Google to refresh my memory and fill in some parts of the story behind the I planted a tree bumper sticker and its parent Drive a Datsun, Plant a Tree campaign. It is from either 1973 or ‘74.

The I planted a tree bumper sticker, it turns out, was merely a collateral piece meant to reinforce a somewhat groundbreaking television ad starring famed photographer Ansel Adams

I found these tidbits through Google Book Search. Excerpts from Ansel Adams, by Mary Street Alinder (if you are an Ansel Adams fan, I heartily recommend that you consider buying and reading this book in its entirety):

“…Datsun (now Nissan) automobile company signed Ansel to star in a television commercial; as an enticement to consumers, Datsun promised to plant one tree for every test drive taken. This was the first real evidence of a cult of personality surrounding Ansel…”

“Chatting on the nation’s television screens about the need to reseed our imperiled national forests with trees, even if in a car advertisement, did not strike Ansel as something to be ashamed of. He believed that his participation in the commercial did as much for the U.S. Forest Service as it did for Datsun. Ansel was told that 160,000 seedlings were planted thanks to this ad campaign.”

Ms. Alinder goes on to say how Ansel was “hurt and puzzled by the chorus of criticism”. Perhaps chief among the critics was another photographer of note, Imogen Cunningham, who “felt it was just one more instance of Ansel’s selling out.”

Ansel was apparently so stung by the criticism that “he swore he would never again permit himself or his work to be used to promote a commercial product.”

I vaguely remember how big a deal it was to have Ansel Adams in a commercial for Datsun, but I had no idea until now how controversial it was. After all, I was 11 or 12 years old. I do recall that in addition to having a tree planted, test drivers themselves were offered seedlings in addition to the bumper stickers to take home. I know this because the seedlings (I think they were Douglas Fir) were delivered by the pallet load to our house and dad saw that each of his dealers got their share. We planted one in our side yard in Virginia but I think it probably fell victim to my agro lawn mowing techniques.

I just went on a nostalgia trip into Google maps, but there is no Google Street View of my old neighborhood. The satellite shot looks like it was taken on the coldest and most bleak (but clear) day ever. It was late morning, the lawns are all brown and there are no leaves on the trees. It’s not even worth showing here, let alone diverting The Man from B.L.O.G. to the location. He was, however, able to drop by the shoot for this post. Here’s an outtake. He’s obviously smitten with the young model from 1973. They make a cute couple, eh?

[Speaking of the bespectacled one, my Man From B.L.O.G. avatar-cybernaut is nearly in position to do a live blog from a surprise location, tomorrow, Earth Day. I can't give out any details now, but I can tell you that we are having technical issues and some time zone confusion with him – he's always on Zurich time.]

Illustration credits: the attempted Ansel Adams-style treatment in the illustration is on one of my own photos, taken at the Mt. Whitney portal in the Sierra Nevada range, California. The bumper sticker is a scan of my own. The classic woman with her (not US market) Datsun is from http://www.motoweb.pl/tapety/pictures/, where you can find other great Datsun wallpapers. The Man from B.L.O.G. is from my first post.