While we were tempted to address Jonathan Franzen’s latest example of why media should do a better job publishing perspectives beyond those of comfortable old white men, Emily Atkin’s brand new Heated newsletter pretty much nails it.
Since Atkin took most of the good bird puns and linked to a few of the many great Twitter threads that cooked Franzen’s goose, today we’re going to talk about something else. While Franzen’s out here appealing to the fainting couch set, the oil industry is busy trying to prop up its public image, particularly among young people.
And to do so, Houston Chronicle’s Marrisa Luck explained Friday, they’re meeting their audience where they are: social media.
While companies like Shell have for years now sought out creative, if cringey, ways to appeal to The Youths, they’ve now found a potentially valuable venue for their propaganda: social media influencers.
As Luck reports, Shell pays 40 “influencers” (aka people with a lot of social media followers) to post positively about Shell on various platforms. And while it may not be particularly persuasive for posters to repeat slogans and tag fossil fuel companies in posts made from gas stations, it shows just how desperate the fossil fuel industry is to appeal to kids.
The industry knows it needs the help. Whether it’s Greta and other youth leaders organizing the coming climate strikes or the fact that even Republican kids are increasingly climate concerned, Shell and other fossil fuel companies can see the writing on the wall.
Not only are they worried about climate policy putting polluters out of business, but even if policy fails, they’re having trouble recruiting new talent. Turns out, kids these days aren’t eager to get into a career killing the planet (not to mention the whole sexual harassment issue at Shell).
But while making sure a 24 year old with her Ferrari is seen filling up at a Shell station certainly isn’t climate action, it can be seen as a welcome step forward, given the fact that Shell has been trying various other methods to deceive Gen Z on climate since before they were born.
At least now they’re just giving money directly to people frivolously burning fossil fuels instead of spending that money on front groups- a small but noticeable step towards honesty.
But it’s still one that, like Franzen, is little more than empty encouragement for us to ignore all the available offramps to get us off fossil fuels, and instead continue driving headlong into disaster.
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