From Pepsi’s protest ad blunder to United’s “re-accomodation” nightmare to Sean Spicer’s four-times-clarified comments yesterday, PR missteps seem to be the hot new thing.
Never wanting to miss a terrible trend, the Koch-funded “Independence Institute” is holding an art contest for Earth Day, Think Progress reported this week. But instead of celebrating technologies that are good for the planet the Institute instructs that submissions should “showcase the awesomeness of fossil fuels.”
Amy Cooke, the group’s executive vice president and director of the Energy Policy Center, told Think Progress the contest is “rooted in inclusivity.” Cooke continued: “As an energy feminist — pro-choice in energy sources — I feel it’s important to have hydrocarbons equally represented.”
Yes. Because promoting products whose pollution disproportionately impacts women is totes super feminist.
Sadly, Cooke’s IntersExxonal feminism pales in comparison to something our dear, sweet friend James Delingpole published this week. In addition to yet another post on Breitbart that offers the usual contradictory and unsupported claims that the Great Barrier Reef is doing fine, Delingpole found the time to produce something even more odious than his usual overwrought histrionics.
Somehow, he and the Spectator thought it would be a good idea to write a glowing celebration of the founder of a UK version of the KKK, the English Defense League, whose calling card is Islamophobia. You might recognize the group from the recent photo that went viral of Birmingham resident Saffiyah Khan calmly staring down an enraged EDL protester, defying attempted intimidation.
While the piece is far from Delingpole’s first flirtation with Islamophobia, this is such an overt and sycophantic defense of a career hatemonger that we found it notable.
And although punching Nazis is literally what made the Greatest Generation so great, we would never advocate using of violence on either Delingpole or the racist whose image he’s attempted to soften and polish with this feel-good fluff.
But we will put this curse upon them: May all your future flights be oversold and on United.
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