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First order of business: no, I also can’t believe it’s nearly June. At least we’re ending May on a major high thanks to the fantastic work of Edinburgh City Council in passing a new advertising and sponsorship policy banning high carbon ads. Edinburgh has gone further than any other city in the globe – now the pressure is firmly on London to follow suit.
Read on for the full story, plus opportunities to get involved, Adblock Bristol meets the world-famous street art festival Upfest, Brandalism takes aim at Shell, and more.
Edinburgh bans polluting ads
In a huge win in Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh, the city council has just approved a world-leading new policy that bans a suite of harmful advertisements and sponsorships, including ads for airlines, airports, SUVs and arms manufacturers.
Adfree Cities supported the new policy, spearheaded by Scottish Greens, which bans ads for fossil fuel companies, airlines, airports, cruise ships, petrol and diesel cars (including hybrids) and all SUVs from council-owned ad sites. Edinburgh is the first UK capital, in fact first global city, to have such a comprehensive high carbon ad ban. Sheffield passed a similarly brilliant policy back in March.
Scottish Greens Councillor Ben Parker, said: “It’s just basic common sense that if the Council is serious about its commitment to climate justice, we cannot allow council advertising space to be used to promote fossil fuel companies.“
You can read more about this trailblazing move in the Financial Times (paywalled), The Independent, Business Green and Forbes.
Local councils from Bristol to Basingstoke, Sheffield to Somerset and Cambridge to Coventry are leading the way on reducing the presence of harmful advertising on our streets. Could your council be next?
Billboards hacked ahead of Shell AGM
In a cheeky subvertising action targeting oil giant Shell during its AGM in May, the Brandalism collective’s latest guerrilla campaign replaced commercial billboard ads with satirical artworks taking aim at Shell’s ‘tobacco-style’ PR tactics and sports sponsorships, especially of British Cycling. The action went down a treat in the press and on social media, clearly touching a nerve over British Cycling’s 2022 controversial decision to adopt Shell as a sponsor.
Check out the full range of artworks and artists on Brandalism’s Instagram and X.
Adfree Cities are pushing for a national high carbon ad ban to end ads for corporations that are making the climate crisis worse. You can support our call by contacting your MP ahead of the coming election and asking that, should they be re-elected, they will commit to taking fossil fuels adverts off our streets (and everywhere).
Pictured artworks by Matt Bonner (top) and Wankers of the World (this section).
Join our webinar on car ad greenwash
On June 18th, Adfree’s James will be joining a panel of speakers for a webinar on pushing the boundaries of ad regulation. The webinar, hosted by Reclame Fossielvrij, will look at recent cases that have challenged greenwash advertising and changed how ad regulators across Europe act on misleading green claims.
James will talk about his campaign, ElectriLIED, which lifts the bonnet on misleading hybrid car advertising in the UK. We recently wrote to the Competition and Markets Authority and the Advertising Standards Authority to call for changes that will align the regulation of car advertising with wider net zero goals.
Sign up for the webinar here and find our more about ElectriLIED (including how you can take part) here.
Stopping the spread of digital advertising
Good news for residents in Birmingham as the council has decided to refuse permission for a new digital billboard on Bromford Lane. The council considered that it “would have an adverse impact on the amenity of the occupants of neighbouring residential properties [as] the proximity of the advert to the windows would result in the occupiers experiencing significant light pollution.” A relief for those residents – but will Wildstone display their usual disregard for the wellbeing of people living near their screens, and appeal the decision? We will see.
Unfortunately, the council has granted permission to Wildstone for two other large digital billboards elsewhere in Birmingham.
Meanwhile in Sheffield, 17 planning applications for new digital ad screens at bus shelters around the city are causing concern among local councillors and residents. There does not appear to be any consultation with people who would be affected by these screens. Another application for a free standing digital advertising screen in the city centre has attracted objections from residents and councillors, as it would obstruct an already crowded pedestrian walkway. And although outdoor ad company Clear Channel claim to be replacing an existing unit, the proposed location for the new one is in a different place. Hmm.
Adblock Bristol at Upfest
As part of Upfest, Bristol’s legendary street art festival, Adblock Bristol led a sold-out workshop on turning ad space into art space. The workshop took a dive into the values represented by outdoor advertising, and questioned whether these where the kind of values we want to see around us, what values we might want instead, and how we could represent these artistically.
We finished by going out and installing the artworks we made during the workshop on an outdoor ad site. For many attendees, this was their first taste of ad-hacking, and from the reaction they had we don’t think it will be their last.
Staff picks
A selection of recommendations from the Adfree team of things to read, do or listen to that explore the wider issues of harmful advertising.
Take a glimpse behind the curtain of adland and see how advertisers really think in this comment piece in The Drum. Tldr: people like public space so let’s ruin it with loads of ads. Read more here.
This episode of BBC’s The Food Programme discusses efforts by local authorities in Leeds and Amsterdam to cut childhood obesity, including by limiting outdoor advertising of junk food. Listen to the full episode here.
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