Oil and gas companies such as Shell, BP, Total, Chevron and ExxonMobil use advertising to promote themselves as benevolent actors, fundamental to our future. Fossil fuel companies spend an estimated $6.97 billion on advertising and public relations every year.
Their adverts position fossil fuels as everything from clean and green to essential for national security, depending which way the political winds blow. The reality is that these companies remain entirely focused on maximising profits through oil and gas expansion, despite dire warnings that this is not an option for the safety of humanity.
Above: a 2026 analysis by Clean Creatives of 1,859 marketing campaign materials of fossil fuel companies outlined the shifting narrative of major polluters.
Advertising by the fossil fuel industry and other high-emitting industries plays a central role in delaying the energy transition and preventing the phase out of fossil fuels. Fossil fuel advertising has been shown to create positive cues for fossil fuel products which stimulates demand and normalises consumption.
Companies such as Exxon, BP, Chevron, Shell and ConocoPhillips have often used advertising as part of their lobbying to block climate legislation in the United States. In the UK, fossil fuel companies target their advertising at political decision makers. In 2022-2023, Norwegian oil giant Equinor secured ad campaigns that dominated Westminster tube station while the government was considering whether to approve the ‘carbon bomb’ Rosebank oilfield.
Above: Equinor’s digital ‘Broader Energy’ adverts from May 2023 (featured on Reuters, Financial Times and Westminster tube station).
In response to an investigation by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), Equinor revealingly stated that their adverts were not aiming to sell a product, but to influence political decision makers:
“[the ad] did not advertise any consumable product or service, and was not aimed at the general public, but at decision-makers and their influencers, a group that included politicians in government and opposition, as well as advisors and journalists.”
Until very recently, companies like BP and Shell frequently used advertising to promote their net-zero pledges and promise a sustainable transition. In 2020, the UK body that regulates advertising, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), ruled that Shell made misleading environmental claims in its advert about carbon offsetting, and BP was pushed to withdraw renewables ads that were the target of an OECD complaint by ClientEarth.
But once the oil majors experienced record profits due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, they shifted the narrative of their advertising to emphasise fossil fuel dominance. Research by PR professionals Clean Creatives showed that oil and gas companies are following a common playbook by presenting oil and gas as the only solution for energy security and economic stability.
In fact, oil and gas demand has only increased because oil majors and governments are causing a “slower adoption of renewable technologies”, which has made it “inevitable” that we will overshoot the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C global warming target.
Above: BP advert at Westminster Tube Station, London in October 2024. In Janaury 2025, BP cut its investments in low carbon energy and intensified its oil and gas production.
For more on the harms of fossil fuel advertising, see our write up of the July 2025 Westminster Hall Debate on banning fossil fuel advertising and sponsorship in the UK Houses of Parliament.