“Why is…action to avert the…crisis proving so difficult? It is…in part, because of ads.”

Advertising

There’s good news about pollution-related ads – one city has begun to ban them:

• "These consumer choices have consequences. Let’s connect the dots for people…

• Amsterdam…banned advertising for ‘fossil products’ (including airlines and cars) in metro stations."

• "Our news media…should…be prohibited from accepting fossil fuel advertising…

• In…2020, The Guardian newspaper led the way, voluntarily deciding to reject fossil fuel ads."

Advertising works.

Companies purchase billions of dollars of ads. “Big…budgets…and branding campaigns do work.”

Many people wrongly believe ads have no effect on them.

Ads are crafted by professionals whose goal is not to get you to run out and buy something.

The goal is simply to create, or reinforce, positive emotional associations with a product, or to reduce negative associations with it.

“Advertisers often use a technique called ‘affective condition’ where they take a product and place it next to other things consumers feel positive about.”

“Detergent brands often associate themselves with babies, sunshine, and flowers, even though detergent doesn’t have anything to do with those things. Repeatedly displaying the brand alongside feel-good images makes people think more positively about the product.”

There’s no sad, mad, or overweight actors/actresses in fast food commercials.

The backgrounds for car commercials have clean snow, green trees, blue water, or sandy beaches. With pick-up truck ads, even with dirt/sweat involved, there’s no exhaust pollution shown.

The “marketing seeps into your brain in a way you may not realize…and it’s happening on a biological level…There are strong emotional associations…created through advertisements.”

¼ of a trillion dollars are spent on ads each year in the USA.

The ads produce authenticated results, and they affect the purchasing decisions of you and me.

“These ads are designed to be persuasive, and they succeed.”

Corporations which profit from pollution spend a lot of money on ads. And many people don’t connect the dots between product pollution and ugly weather.

Who, specifically, pays for “pro-pollution” advertising? Below is a small sample:

(partial) "List of sponsors of anti-Kyoto Treaty advertisements:

• American Automobile Manufacturers Association
• American Corn Growers Association
• American Farm Bureau Federation
• American International Automobile Dealers Association
• American Iron and Steel Institute
• American Petroleum Institute
• American Plastics Council
• American Sheep Industry Association
• American Trucking Associations
• The American Portland Cement Alliance
• Association of American Railroads [think coal trains[]
• The Center for Energy and Economic Development
• Chemical Manufacturers Association
• Coalition for Vehicle Choice
• Edison Electric Institute
• The Fertilizer Institute
• Global Climate Coalition
• National Association of Manufacturers
• National Automobile Dealers Association
• The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
• National Farmers Union
• National Mining Association
• United Mine Workers of America, AFL-CIO
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce"

There’s advertising related to methane pollution from cows:

      “(USA/ANNUAL) advertising spending:…Fast food restaurants: $4.285 Billion.”

Suppose a connection “between…advertising for non-nutritious foods and…childhood obesity”?

And from Big Oil:

“The…biggest fossil fuel corporations in America spent…about $124 million a year…these advertisements attempt to sell consumers on an idea…that fossil fuel companies are helping save the world.” – no joke

Pollution-producing automobile makers spend plenty of money:

• “Carmakers pumped $14 billion…into TV and web ads…[for] SUVs and pickups.”

• “Automobile manufacturers [are on] the list of highest-spending advertisers.”

Last but not least:

• “Car insurance companies spend about $5 billion…every year on…insurance ads.”

• “At the gas station, we…place your ad ON THE GAS PUMP in front of a…captive audience…as they wait…for up to five minutes.”

Don’t give these companies your money. Join the boycott.