Bristol event: When fossil capitalism met surveillance advertising

“We have yet to invent the politics and new forms of collaborative action—this century’s equivalent of the social movements of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries that aimed to tether raw capitalism to society—that effectively assert the people’s right to a human future. And while the work of these inventions awaits us, this mobilization and the resistance it engenders will define a key battleground upon which the fight for a human future unfolds.”
Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism

“[Fossil fuel companies] have been aided and abetted by advertising and PR companies – Mad Men fuelling the madness.”
UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, June 2024

Bristol event: When fossil capitalism met surveillance advertising
Wednesday 29th January 2025
6pm – 8pm @ Sparks, 78 Broadmead, Bristol, BS1 3DS

Free to attend. Drinks and light snacks followed by talks and discussion. Please rsvp to the event by emailing chloe[at]adfreecities.org.uk

As wildfires ravaged Los Angeles this January 2025, fossil fuel companies took out ads across California to stop new climate legislation at the state level. In Bristol, fossil fuel giant Shell has bought bus stop ad spaces to focus attention on its renewable projects, despite actively increasing its fossil fuel investments; adverts which were later deemed misleading by the UK advertising watchdog. All around us, advertisers are building new digital advertising screens in our streets with facial detection capabilities that allow adverts to target particular demographics without our consent.

Adblock Bristol, part of the Adfree Cities network, are campaigning for happier, healthier cities free from the pressures of corporate outdoor advertising – and the creeping surveillance technologies they contain. Since forming in 2017, we have stopped over 150 digital advertising screens from being built in Bristol.

Join us for the beta launch of Digital Dystopia – a mock advertising unit made from recycled electronic waste – re-engineered to reveal the tactics of misdirection and deception used by major polluters to maintain their social licence to operate. We’ll discuss how we build sustainable futures beyond consumerism to meet our needs; and how to create urban spaces that center community connection, solidarity, public art and access to nature.

Speakers:

Robbie Gillett from Adblock Bristol will discuss the development of surveillance advertising in public space – including how this fossil fuel interests are utilising this – and what we can do about it.
Chloe Naldrett from Adfree Cities on what we can learn from the campaign against tobacco advertising in the 1980s and 1990s and why we need a similar national ban on fossil fuel company advertising.
Rob Bryher, Bristol councillor for St George West will discuss what could be done to improve Bristol Council’s current advertising and sponsorship policies on council-controlled ad spaces such as bus stops.
Nicola Wilks (Adblock Bristol): How residents are pushing for policy solutions at the local council and national government to create happier, healthier cities.