Bloomin' marvellous1 May 2007
Friends of the Earth has filed a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority about a Shell advert.
The advert shows a refinery with flowers coming out of the chimneys, not smoke.
An oil refinery emitting flowers not smoke in Shell's advert
The advert is very misleading, and insulting to the communities who live next to Shell's operations.
Simultaneous complaints have been made in Belgium and the Netherlands.
The complaint
Friends of the Earth is objecting to the messages and imagery used in the advert.
Key message of Shell's advert
The implication that Shell carries out its operations in line with the above statement is shameful.
Shell's advert is also misleading because it suggests that Shell uses all of its waste carbon dioxide to grow flowers.
What Shell does do
At a refinery in the Netherlands, Shell pipes carbon dioxide into greenhouses, saving 325,000 tonnes a year.
This is 0.325% of Shell's total direct carbon dioxide emissions from its operations.
Shell is one of the world's dirtiest companies. People around the world are suffering from the effects of Shell's pollution.
Shell should spend money cleaning up its mess, not on deceiving the public with expensive, dishonest adverts.
Hannah Griffiths, Friends of the Earth Corporates Campaigner
Friends of the Earth is calling for the adverts to be immediately withdrawn.
It is also requesting that Shell publishes a correction to the audiences that saw the advert.
Further reading
Shell advert complaint
(PDF† 15KB) May 2007
Friends of the Earth's complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority about Shell's Spring 2007 advert.
Shell: Use your profit to clean up your mess
(PDF† 1.2M) Feb 2007
Report on how Shell should fund local solutions for the environmental and social destruction caused by its projects.
†To view PDF files you will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader. Visually impaired users can get extra help with these documents from access.adobe.com.
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