The call for airline ads to be treated like alcohol or tobacco advertising

safe future: Are airlines sending the wrong message? ”

The paper breaks down airline marketing and says that it broadly follows three themes:

• “Adventure and discovery” - check out these great destinations

• “Privilege” - take a look at our amazing lounges, service. Travel confers status

• “Urgency” - buy now in our sale!

As a result of this, the authors conclude that “it is evident that the marketing efforts of airlines included in our analyses are designed to drive excessive demand and encourage over-consumption.”

As we mentioned in the previous section, the groups who subverted airline ads in September want airline advertising banned. It’s obviously an idea that as yet isn’t mainstream. However, we’re starting to see it filter from activists into academia and the media.

For example, University of Surrey academics

Paul Hanna and Scott Cohen released a paper in the Journal of Travel Research, titled “ Reconfiguring aviation for a climate-

While acknowledging some sustainability focused campaigns, such as KLM’s Fly Responsibly, the authors go on to say that “nascent evidence of green shoots in some airline marketing campaigns is belated and inadequate.”

Then comes their conclusion - “policy interventions will be required to regulate airline marketing, as arises in relation to other consumer products (e.g. tobacco and alcohol) that have damaging public health outcomes.”

And the academics who authored this report are by no means isolated voices. For instance:

Andrew Simms, co-director of the New Weather Institute and assistant director of Scientists for Global Responsibility, wrote a piece in the very mainstream New Scientist magazine, titled, “it worked with cigarettes. Let’s ban ads for climate-wrecking products.”

Similarly, Greenpeace Netherlands commissioned a report by DeSmog to look at airline advertising.

The report claims that: 90% of airline ads made no mention of sustainability (that could easily be turned around. 1/10 of airline advertising mentioning sustainability is actually significant)

The report mentions Brussels Airlines, Air France and SAS as airlines that did run advertising campaigns with sustainability themes.

SAS in particular,”stood out as the one firm that dedicated the most significant number of adverts to the environment – focusing on offsetting, the use of “ sustainable aviation fuels” (SAFs) and electric planes in more than a quarter of its adverts. ”

However, the report then dismisses these initiatives out of hand. “ Campaign group the Aviation Environment Federation have labelled the green initiatives marketed by airlines as “uncertain” or “unrealistic” solutions. ”

Policy markers are starting to react

And starting at a local Government level, policy makers are responding.

In late August, the City of Sydney voted to no longer accept fossil fuel advertising or sponsorships, for example for city wide events such as the New Year’s Eve Fireworks.

Though for now the resolution seems to cover only oil and gas companies, as we’ve shown, aviation is very much starting to be perceived to be in the same bracket.

Amsterdam is likewise banning fossil fuel ads from its Metro - and here it does include flights.

According to Radjen van Wilsem, the chief executive officer of CS Digital Media, the company that places ads in the metro:

“We don’t tell you you can fly to Barcelona for 19 euros. We don’t do that anymore.”

From the perspective of Dutch campaigners, this is a good step, but it doesn’t go far enough:

“We want a national ban” , says George Ongkiehong from Reclame Fossielvrij, quoted in ‘The World.’ “We are striving toward a tobacco-style law.”

Reclame Fossielvrij has also published a list of worldwide initiatives to ban fossil fuel ads.