In a country, such as Canada, so heavily impacted by climate change (Ex. forest fires). We see a frequent discussion about the importance of lowering carbon footprint, greenhouse gas emissions, etc. Pathways Alliance (PA) which is a coalition of Canada’s largest fossil fuel companies and a leader in attempting to fool and greenwash Canadian’s into believing they are saving the environment (Aronczyk, McCurdy, Russill,2024). PA’s in fact responsible for 95% of oil sands production. Oil sands are unconventional petroleum sources made up of thick, viscous material. Extracting and developing them involves nontraditional methods that demand significant energy and water resources(Aronczyk, McCurdy, Russill,2024). Further, making it highly unlikely that PA ever had any intentions of green initiatives for their company. Pathways Alliance created this ad; as they were greenwashing for the purpose of receiving government funding for carbon capture technologies in the oil sector. Showing a complete and utter lack of corporate social responsibility (Wu, Yue, Zhang, Xie, 2020) PA did so knowing that the government would look towards green initiatives (Pizzetti, Gatti, Seele, 2021). The sin of the hidden trade off; creating a climate friendly oil sands brand but weakening their climate policy as soon as the funding comes in (Brent, 2008).
Pathways Alliance is targeting Canadian taxpayers and voters with this still. Those are most often men and women, age 18+, educated, middle-class. With this in mind they are using this ad to portray heaven. Using white lines, clear, bright blue colour, and PA’s choice of text “Let’s clear the air”. All this written on a massive billboard. The fluffy clouds that creep up from the bottom of the still portray air flow, freshness or wind. The creative choices chosen send an indirect message to the viewer that PA creates fresh air. The image is physically appealing with soft lines and bright colours captivating people who come across it. The fan in the bottom left corner shows viewers what is possible with Pathways Alliance: in this case “cleaner and fresher” air. If you look closely around the bottom of the still you are captivated by historical buildings standing tall sending the message of longevity if you support Pathways Alliance.
The ad tells me that by supporting Pathways Alliance I am guaranteed fresh and beautiful skies when I walk out my front door. I am promised a clean and happy place to live (Canada). For Canadians, including myself who are either dealing with forest fires or big city pollution, that is the dream. The ad does a great job of portraying such an ideology. If we look at the average Canadian taxpayer to determine if this ad is hitting its target audience; it is doing just that. By promoting the wildlife “canadian dream” where fresh air is just an open door away. This image allows me to reminisce about the feeling I get breathing in the cold fresh air at the top of the ski gondola, hiking in the rocky mountains, fishing with pops, or camping up north. This ad leads me to believe that Pathways Alliance isn’t just another big fossil fuel company. Without any background information I would likely be misled that PA is in the green sector. Making this still an effective ad for a green washing campaign. In reality, PA’s efforts did work and parliament passed a bill in their favour in 2022. The truth behind these “efforts” were later exposed by the UN Secretary (Aronczyk, McCurdy, Russill,2024). However, none the less the $460,000.00 in facebook ads Pathways Alliance bought did pay off in the context of this ad.
Although prior to this assignment I had never heard of Pathways Alliance. I am familiar with a few of the 6 companies they own. The most notable being Suncor. As a result of Bill C-59 many of their greenwashing efforts were concealed. This bill was an amendment for truth in advertising that would mandate corporations to provide proof for their environmental claims. Making most of what PA had to say inadmissible. Subsequently bringing their greenwashing days to an end.
Bibliography
Brent, Paul. “GREENWASHING: IT’S A SIN.” Marketing 113, no. 7 (Apr 28, 2008): 27. https://ezproxy.lib.ucalgary.ca/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Ftrade-journals%2Fgreenwashing-sin%2Fdocview%2F227199573%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D9838.
Pizzetti, Marta, Lucia Gatti, and Peter Seele. “Firms Talk, Suppliers Walk: Analyzing the Locus of Greenwashing in the Blame Game and Introducing ‘Vicarious Greenwashing.’” Journal of Business Ethics 170, no. 1 (2021): 21–38. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04406-2.
Wu, Yue, Kaifu Zhang, and Jinhong Xie. “Bad Greenwashing, Good Greenwashing: Corporate Social Responsibility and Information Transparency.” Management Science 66, no. 7 (2020): 3095–3112. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2019.3340.
Aronczyk, Melissa, Patrick McCurdy, and Chris Russill. “Greenwashing, Net-Zero, and the Oil Sands in Canada: The Case of Pathways Alliance.” Energy Research & Social Science 112 (2024): 103502-. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2024.103502.
InfluenceMap. “The Canadian Oil Sands Playbook: An Analysis of Pathways Alliance.” InfluenceMap. Accessed October 1, 2024. https://influencemap.org/briefing/Pathways-Alliance-28367.
Ojani, Ata. Pathways Alliance’s Ad. Canada’s National Observer. National Observer, June 5, 2024. https://www.nationalobserver.com/2024/06/05/news/pathways-alliance-greenwashing-advertising-oilsands-InfluenceMap-facebook-lobbying.
Pathways alliance removes all content due to anti-greenwashing bill | financial post. Accessed October 2, 2024. https://financialpost.com/commodities/energy/oil-gas/pathways-alliance-removes-content-anti-greenwashing-bill.
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