News of climate-caused “zombie virus” goes viral on Instagram
Also inside: Conservatives mock climate protestors in viral video
Welcome to Climate Monitor, a weekly digest of the digital strategies polluters and pro-Climate groups are using to shift public opinion and move legislation. We’ve examined political ad spending on social media platforms, as well as what’s trending on social media. Here’s what we found:
Toplines:
A coalition of progressive groups including Somos Votantes, Black Progressive Action Coalition, and LCV continues to run Facebook ads touting the pro-climate benefits of the Inflation Reduction Act
Candace Owens and The Daily Wire have been running a Facebook ad claiming that Bill Gates wants to force people to eat insects to fight climate change. It has earned over 1 million impressions
A video purportedly showing a French man strong-arming pro-climate protestors went viral on right-wing Facebook pages last week
News of a thawing permafrost exposing humans to an ancient “zombie virus” went viral on Instagram
There was very little new or notable climate and energy-related spending on Snapchat or Google ads last week
Facebook + Instagram Advertising
Here were the top 20 climate and energy-related advertisers on Facebook and Instagram last week:
One-month post-election, pro-climate organizations and advocacy groups have continued their retreat from heavy digital advertising on Facebook and Instagram. By contrast, two groups tied to Big Oil continue to spend six figures per week on the platforms.
One ad that received over 1 million impressions last week came from Candace Owens and The Daily Wire, which spent around $7,000 claiming that Bill Gates wants Americans to eat insects to fight climate change. Meta did not fact-check the ad. Another widely distributed anti-climate ad came from Young America’s Foundation, which promoted a video of a conservative pundit debating a climate activist.
On the side of pro-climate advertising, a few ads stuck out to us. A coalition of organizations, including Latino-focused liberal advocacy group Somos Votantes, Black Progressive Action Coalition, League of Conservation Voters, and Climate Power continued to tout the historic passage of the Inflation Reduction Act to voters in key swing states. Each of these organizations’ ads points to climatelawfacts.info, a landing page created by Climate Power that lists many of the legislation’s benefits. When you hear pundits in the media saying Democrats aren’t selling the Biden Administration’s accomplishments, remember a few of these:
Google + YouTube Advertising
There was little new spending archived by Google from climate and energy-related electoral advertisers last week. As a reminder, Google’s platform only archives ad spending that mentions a candidate by name.
Existing spenders previously mentioned were LCV Victory Fund ($12,200), NRDC Action Fund ($5,100), and NC WARN ($800)
Snapchat Advertising
According to Snapchat’s ad library, there were no new climate-related ad campaigns on the platform in the past week. Here’s a snapshot of climate and energy-related Snapchat advertising in 2022:
Trending on Social Media
How are climate and energy issues being discussed by Americans on social media?
Here were the top-performing public posts (by # of interactions) related to climate and energy on Facebook last week:
The top-performing post about climate & energy issues last week came from right-wing mega page ForAmerica, which shared a video purportedly showing climate activists being forcibly removed from an action in France. The video was also distributed by several other top conservative Facebook pages.
On the Left, the White House was responsible for a trio of top-performing posts - about lowering gas prices, collaborating with France on climate issues, and electric vehicles.
Meanwhile, on Instagram, here were the top-performing feed posts (excluding Reels & stories) related to climate and energy last week:
A smattering of pro-climate Instagram posts from celebrities like Mark Ruffalo, Adriana Lima, Leonardo DiCaprio, and the Royal Family led engagement on that platform last week. None of the posts’ content was notable or particularly political.
However, one climate-related storyline spread like wildfire on Instagram last week: the threat of a warming climate melting permafrost and exposing humans to a “zombie virus.”
Sensationalism typically performs well on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, so we’re not exactly surprised a “zombie virus” story was able to spread so quickly.
Weekly Reading
Sponsoring (climate) misinformation (Popular Information, 12/6)
Mashed Potatoes Meet Monet: Climate activists have been celebrated for defacing great paintings. Why? (New York Magazine, 12/6)
The Texas group waging a national crusade against climate action (New York Times, 12/4)
That’s it for this week! If you enjoyed reading this issue, give it a share on Twitter!
Climate Monitor is a product of the Digital Climate Coalition + FWIW Media. Tips/comments/questions? Email kyle@fwiwmedia.com