If products are legal to buy, then generally they can be advertised as well. And unless an abortion clinic wants to place a full-page advert in Texas' most religious newspaper, very few people are bothered by it. Traditional media rarely refuse to place an ad, because their recipients have learned to differentiate between editorial and advertising content.
Nobody is really surprised by banner ads for combustion cars on left-wing, or electric car banners on right-leaning media outlets. Maybe not yet. There is a growing movement that would like to see marketing for fossil fuels, if not banned, then at least labelled with mandatory warnings. As with tobacco or gambling, many companies â from Exxon to Chevrolet â would then be forced to add legal lines like this to their glossy adverts: "Burning brown coal and crude oil harms the environment and worsens the climatic living conditions on this planet."
It is possible to take regulatory action against specific offences such as the misleading use of the term "climate neutral" in advertising. But these rulings becomes more difficult when it is not about specific products, but only a diffuse green image is being sold.
New ad model enters the stage
Many influencers still claim that they are so authentic, even in their advertising co-operations, only promoting goods they are convinced of and that they actually use themselves. Such an attitude â the lack of separation between content and advertising â naturally falls flat on its face, if it can be exposed all too blatantly as a lie.
Shell, with its elaborate propaganda, is much more subtle than Shein. But the fact that the participating travel bloggers and gaming streamers are also getting headwind here is a good sign.
Meanwhile, I'm waiting for the first soccer pro to publicly justify leaving his current club because of the unethical machinations of its investors or jersey sponsor.
(German originally published at drikkes.com)