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2/n: We conducted visual and textual content analysis of 2,325 organic social media posts this summer from 22 of the largest fossil fuel producers, car manufacturers, & airlines in the EU. We looked at Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
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3/n: We found that during this summer of record temperatures, droughts, & wildfires in Europe, all 22 oil, car, and airline companies remained explicitly silent on the topic of climate change. Just 0.3% of posts mentioned "climate change" or "global warming".
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4/n: Instead, *two-thirds* of social media posts from each industry communicated a narrative of ‘Green Innovation’ (green circles), way more than the fractions of posts from oil & car companies talking about their core business operations ('Business-as-Usual' = grey circles).
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5/n: Here are a few examples of the 'Green Innovation' narrative in airlines' social media accounts this summer...
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6/n: This green messaging dwarfs the actual amount that many companies - particularly fossil fuel producers and car manufacturers - are focused on low-carbon technologies. That is the definition of greenwashing: talk green, act dirty.
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7/n: Interestingly, we find statistically significant correlations between firms’ green language & their use of nature imagery. Fossil fuel interests are strategically appropriating the beauty of nature to strengthen their green messaging. They’re greenwashing by nature-rinsing.
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8/n: Among marketing scholars, the term of art for 'nature-rinsing' is 'executional greenwashing', & experiments show significant affective responses from consumers exposed to it. In other words, nature imagery in ads can make a company seem greener.
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9/n: Nature rinsing is so normalised that it generally doesn't impose any burden of proof on firms to show they are helping - rather than harming - the environments that backdrop their messaging. IMHO, this public affairs tactic of fossil fuel interests needs greater scrutiny.
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10/n: We also found that 1-in-5 of each industry's posts communicated a narrative of ‘Misdirection’ (red circles). Fossil fuel & car co's even spend more time talking about their sponsorship of sports, social causes, & fashion than they do about their primary operations.
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11/n: Here's a handful of examples of 'Misdirection' from oil and gas companies...
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12/n: And a selection from car manufacturers, too...
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13/n: There is nothing inherently untoward about corporate philanthropy, of course. Yet in this case, it appears to be verging on several forms of ‘corporate social responsibility washing’, such as sportswashing and wokewashing.
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14/n: Tho definitively determining this is beyond our scope, what is clear is that narratives of Misdirection work to (1) legitimise fossil fuel interests’ social license to operate & (2) to distract from the fact that the use of these firms' products is driving climate collapse.
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15/n: Finally, we show that some of these companies, particularly car manufacturers, leverage not just imagery of nature, but also of people presenting as women, non-binary, non-caucasian, youth, & so on to reinforce their messages of ‘Green Innovation’ and ‘Misdirection’.
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16/n: All told, our data show that fossil fuel interests are engaged in strategic brand positioning to establish themselves as green, innovative, & charitable.
These subtle, systematic trends have been hiding in plain sight for too long.
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18/n: P.S. This work wouldn't have been possible without my brilliant collaborators , Kaitlyn Dowling & at ati.io ; & without our outstanding research assistants Anna Hiltner, , & Maia Zonis. Great work all! 🙌
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