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What is Badvertising?

  • Writer: Jane Taylor
    Jane Taylor
  • Aug 30
  • 2 min read

Updated: Sep 1

We see adverts everywhere, on TV, YouTube, bus stops, football shirts, and even on our phones. But adverts don’t just sell things, they also shape what we think is normal.

At London Climate Action week we met many people who work in advertising who are worried that ads for flights, cars, and fossil fuel companies make polluting lifestyles look fun, easy, or even glamorous.


The Big Idea 💡

That’s why campaigner Robbie Gillett co-founded Badvertising-calling for a ban on adverts for products that fuel climate change.

It’s a bit like how cigarette adverts were banned once people realised how harmful smoking was. Now, campaigners are saying: if we banned tobacco ads to protect health, shouldn’t we ban fossil fuel ads to protect the planet?


People Power in Action ✊

Nature expert Chris Packham joined in with a national petition to ban fossil fuel advertising. Over 110,000 people signed — so MPs had to debate the issue in Parliament for the very first time! Even better, more than 100 advertising companies supported the call too. Although no law has changed yet, it’s a turning point that shows the power of people working together to push big issues into the spotlight.


Why It Matters for Young People 🌱

If fossil fuel adverts are banned, it makes space for better stories:


  • clean energy ⚡


  • rewilding and nature 🌳


  • sustainable travel 🚲🚆


  • exciting green innovations 🌍✨



Signs of Change 🌀

  • In the UK, councils in Medway (Kent), Edinburgh, Sheffield, Cambridgeshire, Hackney, Coventry, and Basingstoke & Deane have already banned fossil fuel ads on council-owned sites.



  • In Spain, a new law is being discussed to ban adverts from coal and oil companies (though not yet gas).



These are hopeful signs that things are starting to shift!



Want to Learn More? 📚




What do YOU think- should fossil fuel adverts be banned? Yes or No?



 
 
 

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