Sharp Goes 'Green,' Technical in Ad Campaign

Sharp is going green with full-page ads in such nontechnical, mass media publications this month as USA Today and getting a bit more technical than usual for the mass consumer market, in order to show off its second eighth-generation LCD plant in Kameyama, Japan.

An aerial photo of the new plant is prominently featured in nearly half the full-page ad, which tells consumers about "the world's largest LCD motherglass" from which substrates are cut in several sizes for 1080p monitors in Sharp's Aquos line of LCD models. (This has to be the first time many consumers have ever heard the term "motherglass.")

The grass-green tint covering the surrounding countryside in the photo is not incidental: the ad details the "eco-friendly" manufacturing process which uses recycled materials and "totally recycled water" for the HD sets, which, in turn, use low-power consumption in the home.

"Even the factory where they're created is green," the ad says. It "features the world's largest solar energy system created with Sharp Solar modules and a co-generation system to reduce CO2 emissions."

Sharp does get around to featuring its 1080p TV sets, too -- although small photos of its five models are tucked away at the very bottom of the ad.