Millennials fight back against Shell’s attempt to woo them at ‘Make the Future’ festival
Climate activists staged an anti-greenwash dodgeball game outside Shell’s Make the Future festival at the Olympic Park, London, yesterday.
They also invited young people to take photos with a poster pledging they wouldn’t not work for Shell while the company continues to invest in fossil fuels.
Shell’s Olympic Park event is part of an international PR push under the banner of Make the Future banner, aimed at convincing young people that the oil industry is a desirable employer.
Shale oil
A 2016 report by McKinsey showed that millennials are shunning the oil industry more than any other sector, as they look for careers that make a positive contribution to society.
This weekend’s festival has been heavily advertised around the capital for several weeks, emphasising the company’s interest in green tech.
Although Shell recently announced they would increase their investment in clean tech, it still amounts to only a small fraction of their overall investment.
Shell bowed to shareholder pressure and in November last year increased investment in their new energy division from $1bn a year to $1-2bn, less than six percent of its $25-30bn total annual investment.
To put this in further context, Shell plans to invest $5bn-$6bn a year in deepwater drilling, and $2-3bn a year for shale oil and gas.
Blatant hypocrisy
The dodgeball game follows an action last month where members of ‘subvertising’ group Brandalism installed mock Shell adverts across sites in London, Leeds, Oxford and Bristol to criticise the Make The Future advertising campaign.
Groups involved in the dodgeball action include Divest Hackney, Fossil Free Newham, Fossil Free Islington, Art Not Oil, Medact, Divest London and Fossil Free London.
Alethea Warrington from Fossil Free London said: “This whole Make the Future campaign is sickeningly cynical and transparent.
“Shell’s investment in clean tech is tiny compared to their work extracting and burning fossil fuels, including deepwater drilling.
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