SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
A parody ad for oil company Chevron features a voiceover that admits the company is "actively murdered" people across the globe over images typical of the fossil fuel industry's "greenwashing" advertisements. (Photo: YouTube/Hyperobject Industries)
In Viral Parody Ad, Chevron Admits It Is 'Actively Murdering You'
Produced by the director of "Don't Look Up," the ad assures viewers Chevron has "billions and billions of dollars to pay for this commercial time, this cheesy footage, and this bullshit music."
Sep 30, 2022
Over images typical of fossil fuel company ads that have been accused of "greenwashing" their practices, a new viral video explains that oil giant Chevron is "actively murdering" people across the globe as it continues to extract fossil fuels despite warnings from climate and energy experts alike.
"We at Chevron believe there is nothing more precious than life," the voiceover says over footage of a newborn baby and mother. "And the most precious life of all is the dead kind, that has been compressed for hundreds of millions of years under massive rocks until it magically becomes oil."
The parody ad, which was released Thursday, goes on to show a wind power farm, a child's birthday party, marine life, and a picturesque image of an oil rig at sunset as the narration explains that the oil it refines and sells as gasoline makes it possible for "a cool-ass tank" to "crush a clay hut" and an airplane to "take a businessman 3,000 miles to have dinner with someone, or whatever, all the while releasing greenhouse gases that are transforming the planet right this second."
Watch:
While the images displayed continue to show an idealized image of families, pets, and nature, viewers are assured that "we at Chevron straight-up don't give a single fuck about you, your weird children, or your stupid, ratty-ass dog."
The company also has "billions and billions of dollars," the narrator says, "to pay for this commercial time, this cheesy footage, and this bullshit music, all so you'll be lulled into a catatonic state that makes you forget one singular fact: Chevron is actively murdering you every day."
The fake ad was released weeks after the U.K.-based group InfluenceMap revealed that the five largest fossil fuel companies--Chevron, BP, ExxonMobil, Shell, and TotalEnergies--spend a cumulative $750 million per year on public relations campaigns to make the corporations seem committed to climate action, while spending just 12% of their capital expenditures on low-carbon activities.
The parody, which was produced by film director Adam McKay, amounted to a "surprisingly honest" advertisement for Chevron, said the Climate Ad Project.
"Normally I'm anti-fossil fuel advertising, but this one should be watched by everyone on the planet," said Jamie Henn, director of Fossil Free Media, which supports the movement to end fossil fuels by pushing back against industry propaganda.
Along with the video, McKay, who directed the climate crisis-themed satire Don't Look Up last year, posted several doctored images of news coverage of Hurricane Ian, which killed at least 21 people when it devastated parts of Florida this week.
The images showed news outlets labeling the storm Hurricane Chevron, Hurricane Exxon, and Hurricane Shell, referring to scientists' warnings that the continued extraction of fossil fuel is intensifying extreme weather events.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Over images typical of fossil fuel company ads that have been accused of "greenwashing" their practices, a new viral video explains that oil giant Chevron is "actively murdering" people across the globe as it continues to extract fossil fuels despite warnings from climate and energy experts alike.
"We at Chevron believe there is nothing more precious than life," the voiceover says over footage of a newborn baby and mother. "And the most precious life of all is the dead kind, that has been compressed for hundreds of millions of years under massive rocks until it magically becomes oil."
The parody ad, which was released Thursday, goes on to show a wind power farm, a child's birthday party, marine life, and a picturesque image of an oil rig at sunset as the narration explains that the oil it refines and sells as gasoline makes it possible for "a cool-ass tank" to "crush a clay hut" and an airplane to "take a businessman 3,000 miles to have dinner with someone, or whatever, all the while releasing greenhouse gases that are transforming the planet right this second."
Watch:
While the images displayed continue to show an idealized image of families, pets, and nature, viewers are assured that "we at Chevron straight-up don't give a single fuck about you, your weird children, or your stupid, ratty-ass dog."
The company also has "billions and billions of dollars," the narrator says, "to pay for this commercial time, this cheesy footage, and this bullshit music, all so you'll be lulled into a catatonic state that makes you forget one singular fact: Chevron is actively murdering you every day."
The fake ad was released weeks after the U.K.-based group InfluenceMap revealed that the five largest fossil fuel companies--Chevron, BP, ExxonMobil, Shell, and TotalEnergies--spend a cumulative $750 million per year on public relations campaigns to make the corporations seem committed to climate action, while spending just 12% of their capital expenditures on low-carbon activities.
The parody, which was produced by film director Adam McKay, amounted to a "surprisingly honest" advertisement for Chevron, said the Climate Ad Project.
"Normally I'm anti-fossil fuel advertising, but this one should be watched by everyone on the planet," said Jamie Henn, director of Fossil Free Media, which supports the movement to end fossil fuels by pushing back against industry propaganda.
Along with the video, McKay, who directed the climate crisis-themed satire Don't Look Up last year, posted several doctored images of news coverage of Hurricane Ian, which killed at least 21 people when it devastated parts of Florida this week.
The images showed news outlets labeling the storm Hurricane Chevron, Hurricane Exxon, and Hurricane Shell, referring to scientists' warnings that the continued extraction of fossil fuel is intensifying extreme weather events.
Over images typical of fossil fuel company ads that have been accused of "greenwashing" their practices, a new viral video explains that oil giant Chevron is "actively murdering" people across the globe as it continues to extract fossil fuels despite warnings from climate and energy experts alike.
"We at Chevron believe there is nothing more precious than life," the voiceover says over footage of a newborn baby and mother. "And the most precious life of all is the dead kind, that has been compressed for hundreds of millions of years under massive rocks until it magically becomes oil."
The parody ad, which was released Thursday, goes on to show a wind power farm, a child's birthday party, marine life, and a picturesque image of an oil rig at sunset as the narration explains that the oil it refines and sells as gasoline makes it possible for "a cool-ass tank" to "crush a clay hut" and an airplane to "take a businessman 3,000 miles to have dinner with someone, or whatever, all the while releasing greenhouse gases that are transforming the planet right this second."
Watch:
While the images displayed continue to show an idealized image of families, pets, and nature, viewers are assured that "we at Chevron straight-up don't give a single fuck about you, your weird children, or your stupid, ratty-ass dog."
The company also has "billions and billions of dollars," the narrator says, "to pay for this commercial time, this cheesy footage, and this bullshit music, all so you'll be lulled into a catatonic state that makes you forget one singular fact: Chevron is actively murdering you every day."
The fake ad was released weeks after the U.K.-based group InfluenceMap revealed that the five largest fossil fuel companies--Chevron, BP, ExxonMobil, Shell, and TotalEnergies--spend a cumulative $750 million per year on public relations campaigns to make the corporations seem committed to climate action, while spending just 12% of their capital expenditures on low-carbon activities.
The parody, which was produced by film director Adam McKay, amounted to a "surprisingly honest" advertisement for Chevron, said the Climate Ad Project.
"Normally I'm anti-fossil fuel advertising, but this one should be watched by everyone on the planet," said Jamie Henn, director of Fossil Free Media, which supports the movement to end fossil fuels by pushing back against industry propaganda.
Along with the video, McKay, who directed the climate crisis-themed satire Don't Look Up last year, posted several doctored images of news coverage of Hurricane Ian, which killed at least 21 people when it devastated parts of Florida this week.
The images showed news outlets labeling the storm Hurricane Chevron, Hurricane Exxon, and Hurricane Shell, referring to scientists' warnings that the continued extraction of fossil fuel is intensifying extreme weather events.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.