The latest issue of Trade Journal Maritime Executive features an unusual ad drawn between articles and editors about the global shipping industry.
The ad will promote Greencurrent Group, a communications and marketing agency that supports the marine and energy business that invests in “the most exciting and misunderstood marine fuel,” the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
If this appears to be inconspicuous, the text becomes even more absurd on the page. “Reducing the practical and reputable risk of LNG investments is possible through robust energy efficiency measures, but there are easier and more cost-effective solutions,” and offers a “free branding consultation.”
Want to know more? Scan the QR code on the page to view the video. If the copy of the ad doesn’t raise an eyebrow, the QR code is sure to lead.
It portrays executives from the LNG-powered Cruise Line Royal Caribbean, who promoted LNG as the “cleanest burning fossil fuel,” working to protect its reputation and profits amid growing awareness of the climate crisis. To do so, they will not phase out LNG. Instead, they hire a bright green sponge mascot named Scrubby Greenwash.
“Scrubs, scrubs, run away from sad facts,” the jingle in the video goes.
If you don’t know about it yet, the GreenCurrent Group does not exist. The spoofing ads were placed in major maritime and offshore industrial publications by Yes Men, a group of American-based activists.
Working in similar stunts for 25 years, the group is probably best known for infiltrating various industry convenings, pose as the Big Wigs of the World Trade Organization, McDonald’s, Dow Chemical, ExxonMobil and other powerful organizations. Since 2003, they have made three films about their work.
Yes Men’s latest project is “criticism of trade media to critically publish pro wrestling propaganda,” says Natalie Whiteman, a mischievous Yes Men activist.
“Many industry leaders who have read many LNG producers, transporters and maritime executives are working hard to convince the public that LNG is clean and not a strong heat trapped fossil fuel that has leakage problems at every stage of the supply chain,” she said. “But science continues to tell people the truth. This is bad and annoying for business.”
It is also the cruise industry’s send-up of greenwashing of fossil fuels, and activists have long called for its contribution to toxic pollution and global warming.
“Scrubby supports LNG providers, shipping companies, cruise lines (people who get bad raps to invest in LNG), turning bad news into more money,” Whiteman quipped. “He’s the incarnation of Greenwash. Scrubby protects businesses from public scrutiny in the same way they protect themselves through the dirty smokescreen of misleading marketing tactics.”
The Guardian approached both Maritime executives and the Royal Caribbean for comment.
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Whiteman said he wanted the ad to remind LNG producers that “it is generally frowned upon to benefit from promoting the collapse of the planet.” The fuel source is almost entirely composed of methane. Methane is made up of gases that in the short term, gain planets that are more than 80 times the global warming power of carbon dioxide.
She said it’s not difficult to place advertisements — a sign of “willingness to push ethical responsibility aside to make a profit.”
“That, or the editor, can’t read,” she said.
The mischief of yes men comes amid growing scrutiny of the role of fossil fuel marketing in climate delays. For example, a group called Clean Creative has been calling for creative institutions to reduce their ties with the oil and gas industry for many years.
It also comes as part of a wave of parody advertising aimed at bringing attention to the fossil fuel industry’s contribution to the climate crisis. Other notable examples were created by Oscar-winning director Adam McKay’s Yellowdot Studios, the anti-gas nonprofit Gas Leaks Project, and nonprofit media organization Fossil Free Media.
Jamie Henn, founder of Clean Creative and Fossil Free Media, said the latest Yes Men pranks are “great.”
“The industry relies on lying to us and pushing our products,” he said. “Greenwashing is one of the best strategies needed to combat the expansion of fossil fuels.”
The United States is the largest exporter of LNG. Joe Biden suspended new export permits last year, waiting for reviews. This is a move in which his successor, Donald Trump, fled aside on the first day of his second term last month.
