Technological watch

True story: I once attended a press event on sustainability in the auto industry where a rather clueless member of the local media kept asking the executives if they were sure people wanted green cars. "I prefer silver," she said.

So let's be clear, the new ad campaign from Adidas featuring Kermit the Frog deals with being green in more of a metaphorical sense, not strictly the color of his "skin."

Adidas is using Kermit to help promote its sustainable Stan Smith line of shoes, which uses recycled polyester and other plastics, including material collected from waterways.

Our sister paper writes that each pair of Stan Smiths now have an upper made from recycled materials. Adidas recently said it plans for nine out of 10 of its products to be sustainable, either through recycled materials or meant for reuse, by 2025.

In a one-minute advertisement released March 23, Kermit doesn't specifically mention Adidas (although he's wearing a pair of familiar white shoes) but instead focuses on actions taken by individuals.

"They say every problem has a solution," he says in the commercial. "You might wonder, 'Am I too small to change this whole world? Am I the only one pitching in?'