It’s time to break up with pollution and fossil fuel propaganda! ✊ˎˊ˗
Remember that ex who promised they'd change, showered you with grand gestures, then gaslit you into thinking you were the problem?
Well, the fossil fuel industry and corporations have been pulling the same toxic playbook on all of us for decades. We broke down this and other pollution propaganda tactics during a recent workshop called "Decode the Spin".
Megan from Content For Good & Co. and Julie and Maxine from The Climate Propagandist delivered a brilliant reframing of fossil fuel and pollution propaganda with a mix of pop culture.
Instead of drowning the audience in academic jargon, we treated pollution propaganda like what it truly is: that manipulative ex we should've dumped years ago.
Let’s dig into the event recap. ⤵
The Love-Bombing Phase (aka "You Complete Me") ˎˊ˗
The workshop kicked off with fossil fuels' greatest hits from their honeymoon period.
Remember when they convinced us they were humanity's saviour? The generous provider lifting people out of poverty, keeping us warm, basically the foundation of civilisation itself?
That's textbook love-bombing, and let’s stop falling for it.
We showed how this "Fossil Fuel Saviour" framing is everywhere—from ads featuring cowboys and football games to carefully diverse casts all united by one thing: oil.
It's designed to make fossil fuels seem irreplaceable, life-giving, almost romantic. Classic manipulation tactic: drown us in admiration while we ignore every red flag.
Here’s the example we shared ⤵
📌 Example: Energy Citizens Ad — “Life” brought to you by gas and oil
When Drilling Gets Sexy (Unfortunately) ˎˊ˗
Then comes the seduction phase, where extraction gets wrapped in glitzy, conquest-themed language. "Drill, baby, drill!" isn't just policy.
It's foreplay with the earth, complete with petromasculinity vibes that would make Freud blush. The workshop even dissected how this shows up in pop culture, including a Katy Perry video where she literally fuels herself by pumping gas into her backside.
Because nothing says "aspirational lifestyle" like... that.
Here’s the example we shared ⤵
📌 Example: Katy Perry’s ‘Women’s World’
The Gaslighting Olympics ˎˊ˗
Here's where things get dark.
Corporate propaganda has been gaslighting us since before we even had the word "greenwashing." Remember the crying Indian from those 1970s anti-littering campaigns?
Plot twist: he wasn't Indigenous, and the whole thing was funded by Coca-Cola and Dixie Cup Co. to shift blame from corporations to consumers.
We've been getting played for fifty years.
Here’s the example we shared ⤵
📌 Example: Keep America Beautiful
Emotional Blackmail: The Greatest Hits ˎˊ˗
When fear tactics don't work, out comes the weaponised nostalgia. Cross-country road trips! Family barbecues! The golden age of American progress!
They want us to associate fossil fuels with apple pie and freedom, not climate disasters.
And when that doesn't stick, they resort to "petrosplaining"— talking down to us like we're too naive to understand energy policy while painting renewable advocates as unrealistic dreamers.
Here’s the example we shared ⤵
📌Example: 2015 Fiat 500L Commercial - Road Trip!
The Entrapment Game ˎˊ˗
This is the "you'll be nothing without me" phase, where fossil fuel companies embed themselves so deeply in local economies that any transition feels impossible. It's financial codependency designed to limit our imagination about alternatives.
One coal company ad literally showed a giant miner looming over a city like some dystopian protector—message received.
Here’s the example we shared ⤵
📌Example: Consol Energy
Silent Treatment and Reputation Laundering ˎˊ˗
Oh, this one hits different.
You know that soul-crushing moment when you think you've had an amazing connection, only to get completely ghosted?
Well, corporations have perfected this art form with something called "greenhushing"—and honestly, it might be their pettiest move yet.
Instead of bragging about their environmental wins (real or imagined), they're pulling the ultimate silent treatment on all their climate commitments.
Why? Because they're scared of getting called out, criticised, or—heaven forbid—having to actually back up their claims with receipts.
Here’s the example we shared ⤵
📌 Example: Neutrogena's "naturals" line
Is it time for a clean break? ˎˊ˗
Our solution?
Treat this like any toxic relationship—expose the tactics, normalise the breakup, and create new love stories around clean energy. Make fossil fuels culturally irrelevant, awkward, and cringeworthy. Because honestly, clinging to 19th-century energy sources in 2025?
That's the real embarrassment.
We leave you with this: become "propagandists of your own"—culture-makers who can match corporate spin with equally compelling narratives, but ones that actually serve the planet.
Revolutionary idea: what if we got just as good at storytelling as the people trying to destroy our future?
Consider this your intervention notice. Time to block fossil fuels' number, delete their photos, and swipe right on that renewable energy future.
Trust me, you deserve better than this toxic relationship. The breakup party starts now. Who's bringing the clean energy playlist?
So, what’s next? We come together, get involved, and start making meaningful changes to ‘decode the spin’. Jump into these resources to keep learning how to do this:
Can marketing be a force for good in the world? Let’s start a conversation. ⤵
See you soon,
Megan
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Disclaimer: I’m a busy person, so this newsletter was partially written with generative AI. I used it to repopulate the event script and create a cohesive copy. If the content is incorrect, please reach out to me.
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