Digital ad spending data for the week of May 9nd to 15th
Shell starts advertising their “climate target” to young men
Here are the top 25 spenders on climate-related Facebook ads last week.
Most recently, the American Petroleum Institute, through its “Energy Citizens” Facebook page, has been running a patriotic-themed ad campaign celebrating America’s veterans and arguing that “energy security is national security.” This particular campaign seems to overwhelmingly target folks 45 and up in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Colorado, and New Mexico.
Over on API’s “Energy for Progress” page, they’ve spent ~$2k on an ad campaign that highlights how new developments in motor oil technology reduces car emissions, specifically citing the Ford F-150. This campaign started on May 14th, just days before Ford revealed their first fully electric F-150. 🤔 Similarly, ExxonMobil is running a new ad campaign that claims that petrochemicals “create the plastics that make your car lighter, faster, and stronger,” therefore increasing your car’s fuel efficiency. Both of these campaigns are mostly targeted at folks over 45 nationwide.
ExxonMobil is no longer the only major fossil fuel company advertising on Facebook: last week, Shell started a new Facebook + Instagram ad campaign promoting their new “climate target.” The Facebook ads are mostly targeted mostly at men aged 35-54, while their Instagram ads, which are essentially identical, are targeted mostly at men aged 18-44. You can check out their full video ads in the Facebook Ad Library.
We also noticed in this week’s Facebook data that the group Clean Virginia has put its money where its mouth is in Virginia’s Democratic gubernatorial primary by running Facebook + Instagram ads supporting Jennifer Carroll Foy. They argue that as governor, Carroll Foy “will do whatever it takes to protect our air and water from toxic polluters” and will “hold Dominion Energy accountable.” Their ads are almost exclusively targeted at middle-aged women in Virginia.
While there is still very little spending by climate or polluting groups on Snapchat or Google, there wasn’t zero. A group known as the Conservative Coalition for Climate Solutions spent $200 promoting full 25-65 minute interviews with Republican lawmakers including Reps. GT Thompson (R-Pa.), John Curtis (R-Ut.), and Rick Santorum.
Finally, here’s how much climate groups have spent on Snapchat ads. There have been no new ads on the platform from climate groups since May 9th.