Gem of the day

As Hunter S. Thompson would say, "Well and here we go again." Chevron, not to be outdone by Shell, has launched an aggressive new global ad campaign, "We Agree". Here's the headline message:

"Oil Companies Should Clean Up Their Messes"

"For decades, oil companies like ours have worked in disadvantaged areas, influencing policy in order to do there what we can't do at home. It's time this changed. People in Ecuador, Nigeria, the Gulf of Mexico, Richmond, and elsewhere have a right to a clean and healthy environment too."

First and foremost, why? Why launch this campaign, other than to anticipate criticism in the aftermath of the oil spill and deflect responsibility by claiming forethought on these issues?

Secondly, what does the message above even mean? Just as in Shell's 'Let's Go' ads, the words these companies are [ab]using are not just ambiguous--they're deliberately misleading and just plain strange. In this message, it may seem at first that Chevron is admitting to decades of wrongdoing in developing world communities. But it's far from clear what they are actually talking about.

Finally, for Chevron to state in the key messages of this campaign that 'we agree' strong rules to govern oil companies, strict emissions limits, and preventative measures for reducing the risks of oil spills are needed, is beyond disingenuous. We've seen the extraordinary figures spent by major oil companies to lobby Congress in the wake of Deepwater Horizon, with the specific objective to avoid tougher legislation. Companies like Chevron are also directly responsible for the failure of climate legislation in the US, which has had a devastating domino effect on global progress towards putting a price on carbon and sending important long-term investment signals--COP15, anyone?--and I categorically reject the idea that they could run a campaign like this aggressively asking if 'we', the global public, agree that these initiatives are needed.

All of these campaigns are useless, damaging and frankly, insulting use of PR money to try to deflect any real examination of what these companies are actually doing and investing in. I am a strong believer that, given the extraordinary profits of Big Oil, these companies could be driving a transformative shift towards renewables and efficiency solutions in our global energy mix. But you know what? Right now they're not.

And now, because we all desperately need a laugh on a dark day such as this one, I leave you with the predictably wise words of my partner in crime, Casper ter Kuile:

"This is obviously brilliant, but if anyone was fooled by it - they haven't been paying attention. Oh yes, that reminds me, nobody is. Carry on everyone."