This weekend, environmental activists hijacked over 400 billboards and bus stops across Europe to criticize Toyota and BMW.
Citing Brandalism and Extinction Rebellion — the groups behind the parody campaign — a report from euronews.green stated that the billboards across Belgium, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom highlight the lying campaigns and “aggressive lobbying efforts” being used by these two firms.
Despite Toyota and BMW advertisements emphasizing their electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), both companies are “heavily invested in marketing polluting combustion engine vehicles,” according to the activists.
Adding to this argument, Greenpeace stated that while global EV sales increased in 2021, Toyota trailed its competitors in transitioning from fossil fuels.
Zero emissions vehicles comprised only 0.2% of the company’s sales — the lowest among the world’s top 10 automakers. According to InfluenceMap — a global database of corporate lobbying — the company was ranked tenth worst in the world.
Tona Merriman, a spokesperson for Brandalism, stated:
Toyota have pushed their ‘Beyond Zero’ sustainability adverts whilst lobbying governments around the world to weaken air quality plans and threatening legal action to protect their profits over a liveable climate. Toyota and BMW use slick marketing campaigns to promote over-sized SUV models that clog up urban neighbourhoods.
Toyota has also been vocal about its reluctance to completely shift to EVs. This has earned it notoriety among activists for being blatantly opposed to environmental preservation through EV normalization.
