Marketing/PR/Corporate Communications
“Oil companies...sought...to burnish their reputations...as environmental champions.”
​
​
​
“Climate disinformation...reduces public understanding of climate change...
​
cancels out accurate information...and reinforces climate silence.”
​
​
"Confuse the public and decision makers"
Public Relations Historical Events:
​
​
Ivy Lee, Edward Bernays, and John Hill were three leading public relations pioneers.
Their connections with oil and mining companies
go back at least as far as the Ludlow Massacre in 1914.
​
​
Following World War Two when "smog" became a big problem
in Los Angeles, (1946) fossil-fuel companies decided to
sponsor “research to inform and shape public opinion.”
​
​
E. B. Harrison "made his mark in 1962".
He is known today as “the godfather of ‘greenwashing'...
[which means] taking steps to
appear environmentally responsible without changing actual policies.”
​
​
1971: A PR campaign introduced the new idea of “littering”. Start-up money came from beverage, can and bottle companies as well as “the tobacco industry [who] developed programs with Keep America Beautiful
​
that focused on cigarette litter solutions acceptable to the tobacco industry such as volunteer clean-ups and ashtrays…
​
Keep America Beautiful's narrow focus on litter...is seen as an attempt to divert responsibility from industries that manufacture and sell disposable products.”
​
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
​
Starting in the 1990’s, “The [plastics] industry sold the public on an idea it knew wouldn't work —
that...plastic could be, and would be, recycled — all while making [billions]...selling...new plastic.”
“The ads were paid for by...companies like Exxon, Chevron, Dow, DuPont.
​
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
​
In the early 2000's, the marketing/advertising/public-relations firm, Ogilvy and Mather, thought of revitalizing the litter-is-your-fault concept for their client, BP.
“It’s here that British Petroleum, or BP, first promoted and soon successfully popularized the term ‘carbon footprint’.”
They wanted to build an "emotional affinity beyond the product."
​
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
​
“Between 2005 and 2008, the Kochs alone spent nearly $25million...fighting climate reform,”
partly through the use of think-tanks:
​
“Sold to the public as quasi-scholarly organizations, [think-tanks] real
function was to legitimize the right to pollute for oil, gas and coal companies.”
​
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
​
In 2008 big oil’s message was to shift the blame for pollution to auto-makers and car drivers:
“Improve your gas mileage”, they recommended.
​
And, “It is important we reduce...emissions."
​
"Improving the efficiency of the vehicles people drive is one way to do so.”
​
2019: a top consultant admitted regrets. “‘I was wrong’ Frank Luntz told a...Senate...panel.”
​
“Luntz...helped Republicans hold power…He crafted talking points for the Koch brothers…”
​
He had...urged politicians to "emphasize a lack of scientific certainty around climate change.”
​
​
2020: “Subaru is...hiding its slow progress on EVs behind ‘green’ marketing.”
​
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
​
Subaru has paid organizations that appear to be environmentally friendly -
​
REI, the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), and National Park Foundation (NPF) -
to join marketing promotions. Who are the NPCA and the NPF?
​
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
​
The NPCA and the NPF are NOT the National Park Service, despite similar names.
​
I called REI about their contest to win a pollution-creating Subaru. I was dismissed.
​
I spoke with a representative of Subaru at the San Francisco Auto Show: same result.
​
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
​
The Senior Vice President of Marketing for Subaru of America, Inc. stated
(in a press release) they hope to “Keep America...Beautiful.”
​
Corporate consultants try various tactics.
​
​
One is to hire their own scientists to rebut legitimate, unbiased science.
​
​
They spread doubt about the dangers of climate change
when their own researchers were confirming how serious a threat it was."
​
​
“Revelations about Exxon Mobil’s campaign came from...
the Los Angeles Times [which] documented...
efforts to manipulate public opinion.”
What will they think of next?
​
-
-
Astro-turf groups use "paid consultants...
-
portraying pro-petroleum groups as grass-roots movements’.”
-
​
-
Marketers "hire social media influencers to make cooking
-
with gas stoves seem...trendy, despite the indoor air pollution.”
-
​
-
-
“The Petroleum Product Marketing course consists of 8 lessons...”
-