Adfree Cities, Adblock Lambeth, Badvertising and XR Families staged a protest at the doors of advertising agency The&Partnership, who make ads for one of the the world’s top polluters, Toyota.
Activists handed flyers to The&Partnership staff while others wearing animal masks and covered with tyre tracks lay motionless on the ground as if run over by an SUV.
[All photos below credited to Angela Christofilou]
The action comes the day after ads for a Toyota SUV ad made by The&Partnership was banned by the UK advertising regulator, in a landmark case. The ads, which showed dozens of large diesel SUVs cruising through rivers and grasslands before driving en masse into a city, were banned for encouraging environmentally “irresponsible” driving.
In response to the ban on Toyota’s SUV ads, Adfree Cities said: “More and more SUVs are being sold on a false promise of rugged adventure, exploiting imagery of the natural world.
“In reality, SUVs are harming nature, polluting our air, clogging up our cities and causing tragic loss of life. This ruling is welcome but regulation of SUV adverts is not enough; the promotion of SUVs should be terminated altogether.”
Advertising agencies are increasingly being called out for their work to promote and greenwash major polluters, with a marked uptick in protest, regulator action and media attention.
