Major climate groups used Facebook ads to celebrate House passage of Build Back Better Act
Top climate-related digital ad spenders last week include ExxonMobil, Coca-Cola, LCV, Propane, and Earthjustice
After the passage of the Build Back Better Act out of the House of Representatives on November 19th, a few major climate groups launched new ad campaigns on Facebook and Instagram touting its potential positive impacts and supporting the House members who voted for it. However, those same groups appear to have withdrawn from investing in political ads on YouTube, Google, and Snapchat.
A look at the top digital ad spenders nationwide
Here are the top 25 spenders nationwide on climate and energy-related ads on Facebook and Instagram from last week:
The League of Conservation Voters spent a whopping $282,590 on Facebook and Instagrams in November, and much of that investment appears to have gone into ads promoting the Build Back Better Act in a variety of ways. They’ve spent ~$18k on video ads since Oct. 27 applying positive pressure to Sens. Maggie Hassan, Mark Kelly, Catherine Cortez Masto, and Raphael Warnock, as well as ~$90k thanking 21 Democratic House members for voting to pass the bill; the latter ads seem to mostly target older women in the members’ respective states. They also spent ~$45k criticizing eight mostly freshman House Republicans and, interestingly, Rep. Jared Golden.
Similarly, Climate Reality Action Fund has so far spent $28,092 on Facebook and Instagram ads thanking Reps. Elaine Luria, Abigail Spanberger, Susan Wild, Matt Cartwright, Lucy McBath, and Carolyn Bordeaux for voting to pass the bill. Other groups that ran ads on this platform after the BBB Act passed out of the House include EDF Action and the NRDC Action Fund, which respectively spent $7,272 and $32,568 on the platform last week.
Among polluters, the most prominent investor in political ads on Facebook and Instagram continues to be ExxonMobil, which appears to have spent $334,124 on ads targeting Louisiana, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Ohio touting how the oil and natural gas industry provided billions in wages in each state since 2019. These ads mostly target younger men and older women in each state.
At the same time, we found that Coca-Cola - one of the biggest plastic polluters in the world - has spent $222,710 in the past month touting their sustainability efforts, from “lightweighting our packaging, increasing recycled content, focusing on refillable, fountain and Coca-Cola Freestyle solutions, and investing in local recycling programs,” to “unveiling our first-ever beverage bottle made from 100% plant-based plastic, excluding the cap and label.” Their ads primarily target young adults nationwide, but particularly in California.
Additionally, here’s how much major groups have spent week-to-week on Facebook ads related to climate, conservation, and energy.
As far as we can tell, spending on Google and YouTube ads by climate groups in the past two weeks has been sparse. LCV spent just $3,900 on the platform last week on three YouTube ads they’ve been running since October supporting Sens. Cortez-Masto, Hassan, and Kelly and the BBB Act, and NC WARN spent $10,800 on its campaign pressuring Gov. Roy Cooper against Duke Energy.
We also noticed that Sierra Club and The Nature Conservancy ran no ads on the platform last week. We will also note that Building Back Together spent $3,600 on YouTube ads, some of which target key battlegrounds and highlight how the IIJA will replace lead pipes.
Climate spending on Snapchat was similarly sparse on Snapchat over the past two weeks, when Patagonia was still the only climate spender on the platform. They spent $411 on ads highlighting food waste in Southern California and resiliency in Quail Springs in Ventura County, CA.
Climate, clean energy, and conservation ads in next year’s key states
We picked up a few new Facebook ads mentioning climate change, conservation, and/or energy in some of the biggest races Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
AZ-GOV: Last month, Matt Salmon spent under $100 on an email acquisition ad: “APPROVAL POLL: Biden’s presidency has brought us higher gas and grocery prices, Americans stranded in Afghanistan, chaos at the border, and more COVID mandates.”
FL-GOV: Charlie Crist continued to run fundraising ads criticizing Gov. Ron DeSantis: “Governor Ron DeSantis is a NO on preventing climate change, a NO on preparing for its effects, and a NO on protecting the Everglades. That’s reason enough for Floridians to say NO to giving him a second term!”
MN-GOV: Earlier last month, Scott Jensen ran an email acquisition ad criticizing Gov. Tim Walz: “We need to support GOOD jobs in Minnesota that support energy independence. Scott Jensen supports support [sic] iron ore and precious metals mining, along with pipeline construction!”
NH-SEN: Maggie Hassan started running nine new fundraising ads: “What’s at stake if we give up and allow McConnell and the GOP to take back the Senate? An end to the progress we’ve made on guaranteeing access to the ballot box, securing a woman’s right to choose and battling the climate crisis. If they take this one seat, all our work on behalf of Democratic values will be lost.”
PA-SEN: Malcolm Kenyatta started running 34 new fundraising ads this week: “I’m certain with your help, we can take our movement for affordable childcare, climate justice, and livable wages to the Senate.”
WI-SEN: Last month, Alex Lasry spent ~$1k boosting a local news story about clean energy union jobs: “Hire local and hire union. This is a great example of how we can use green energy to move our economy forward.”