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BACKFIRED investigates the largest auto scam in the world, tracing VW's deliberate installation of defeat devices in their diesel cars to circumvent California and US vehicle emissions standards.
"Terrific...captures the outrageous dissembling and theft of health committed by VW."
Dr. Dick Jackson, Professor Emeritus, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health
"An amazing job. ..put[s] the Volkswagen scandal into the context of the whole clean air movement. ...fascinating..."
Jack Ewing, New York Times, Author, Faster, Higher, Farther: The Volkswagen Scandal
"If you care about the air you breathe and want to know what some companies are doing to make your air worse, while claiming to make it better, BACKFIRED, which tells the story of what US regulators are doing to call those companies to account and give us the clean air we deserve, is for you."
Alan Morrison, Associate Dean for Public Interest Law, George Washington University
"BACKFIRED is much more than a study of colossal corporate malfeasance. It is also a morality play about the state and federal regulators who uncovered the cheating and fought for just settlements, as well as the need for the automobile industry to utilize renewable energy sources. ...An inspiring vision of progress toward environmental sustainability."
John R. Boatright, Professor Emeritus of Business Ethics, Loyola University Chicago, Author, Ethics and the Conduct of Business and Ethics in Finance
"Sustainable business and technology are a critical movement for our planet. The VW scandal warns us to be vigilant to the outright deception that some companies will stoop to in order to appear green. Backfired reminds us that those in powerful management positions will face pressures to engage in illegal and immoral actions. It also puts the VW scandal into the context of history, showing us all that came before to create a cleaner environment and how this scandal may serve as a pivotal event for continuing that path through ever greater efforts at sustainable business and technology."
Andy Hoffman, Professor of Environment and Sustainability, Professor of Sustainable Enterprise, Professor of Management and Organizations, University of Michigan, Co-author, Flourishing: A Frank Conversation about Sustainability
"In this struggle where failure is not an option, we must either win each battle or learn from our losses what we need to win the next one. The environment was the loser for over a decade due to VW's cheating. This film can help us learn from that defeat in terms of what we need to move ahead..."
William Newman, Professor of Management, Miami University
"Volkswagen's lies and deceitful behavior rival the villainous exploits of both Enron and Bernie Madoff! VW knowingly produced 11 million cars with software that falsely altered their pollution exhaust rate."
Al Gini, Professor of Business Ethics, Loyola University Chicago
"An important story. As a researcher of behavioral ethics, I have found many anecdotes of goals and incentives increasing unethical behavior of individuals within organizations. The VW scandal is even more abhorrent - they purposely concealed test results to increase sales and profits. Backfired highlights the impact of the VW goal of becoming the top automobile company in the world. Well, they achieved their goal - but at what cost?"
Dr. Lisa Ordóñez, Professor of Management and Organizations, Professor of Marketing, University of Arizona