The famous car-truck that provokes such deep anger in the eyes of good carbon-fearing, clean air-loving citizens is struggling amidst a sea of societal change. As both oil prices and awareness of the increasing problems associated with global warming rise, General Motors has gone to its genius branding mavens to spin the brand back into consideration. Good luck.

Going from a less than serious 2002 positioning in the days of oil and roses geared toward macho hipster cred (reflected in such gratuitous tunes as Happy Jack by The Who), Hummer has finally whiffed the burnt edge of a wanton carbon brand personality and thrown down with a sudden humanistic face. Here we can see the new “green branding” happening before our very eyes in all its gorgeous ability to maneuver public sentiment and orient toward market success.

Titled ‘HUMMER HEROES‘, the campaign will show how rescue workers, among others, rely on the vehicle to help them help those in need. Because the brand has come to, in the words of Hummer Marketing Director Megan Stooke, “represent an icon for all things evil”, it’s high time we change it into a force for good.

Wow, evil to good in a fall campaign through gross ratings points.

The ad agency Modernista aims to position the vehicle as a force for good by portraying how rescue workers and owners rely on Hummers to help others. In a few weeks, the GM brand will launch a microsite, Hummer Helps, that will encourage owners to send in stories and photos that illustrate how they assisted the needy with their SUVs.

Says Martin Walsh, the brand’s general manager,”The unparalleled capabilities of a Hummer make them the ideal disaster-response vehicle.” Indeed, a more palatable frame than the unparalleled disaster creating capabilities of the Hummer.

This new campaign could be effective for the skeptics who either discount any man-made effects of global warming, refuse to care, or simply refuse to deny their ego the luxury of a 6000 lb, 8.6 miles per gallon steel truck to get them to the gym. What could be more convenient, or necessary in this case, than wrapping the brand in a gauzy, feel-good aura of social responsibility amidst national and global crises happening around us regarding such things as consumption, energy security, population growth, demand for natural resources, pollution, and terrorism.

Sometimes the best way to deal with the thought of such overbearing consequences is sheer denial. Bummer. No, Hummer.