Why does the Lorax speak for the SUVs?

...Yes, it’s come to this. Theodor Seuss Geisel’s 1971 parable about environmental stewardship is now being used to make people feel less guilty about purchasing Mazda-brand motor vehicles. The Mazda cross-promotion, it turns out, is one of 70 sponsorship deals that Universal has worked out to increase the return on its investment in a feature film version of “The Lorax.” Not pictured in the ad: The Truffula tree forest that was clear-cut to make way for the four-lane highway the Once-ler built to sell more Thneeds. (Today Mazda CX-5 owners use that highway to get to their outrageously wasteful, greenhouse gas-spewing subdivisions.)

I never read The Lorax as a kid, but I did see an animated version of it on TV (I forget who made it), so I have a general idea of what it's about. It's an environmental parable, basically, so to see such a story and such a character be used to sell SUVs, of all things, in a movie-tie-in commercial no less, is pretty much the definition of tacky. I urge you to not take your kids, nephews, nieces, rugrats, what have you, to see The Lorax this weekend, and if this really pisses you off, perhaps you'd like to sign this petition against it.