rjzimmerman:

How Shell Used a ‘Granfluencer’ to Promote its Brand (DeSmog Blog)

Excerpt from this story from DeSmog Blog:

A “granfluencer” known as “our Filipino grandma” is among an army of US-based influencers being used by fossil fuel giants to promote major polluters to younger audiences, DeSmog can reveal. 

TikTok star Nora Capistrano Sangalang – known as “Mama Nora” or “Lola” – is best known for posting videos of her family and her insistence that her young fans are well fed.

In September 2022, however, she stepped into a new realm – posting an advert promoting Shell’s fuel rewards programme to her over two million followers on TikTok and Instagram. 

While the video racked up around 40,000 likes across both platforms, it also attracted dozens of negative comments from Sangalang’s fans, some of whom said they would be unfollowing her account. 

“Love your account but why would you ever partner up with Shell, a company that has caused environmental disasters and is a major contributor to climate change?”, one follower said. 

The post came months after Shell had advertised for a new staff member to manage its TikTok campaigns, and was part of a wider campaign to promote the 10 year anniversary of its fuel rewards programme.

DeSmog’s research found that Sangalang is among more than 100 influencers who have been used to promote oil and gas giants worldwide since 2017, from the US to Malaysia, reaching billions of people. 

Shell’s use of Sangalang appears to be part of a concerted push from oil and gas supermajors to improve their image among younger generations.

Edelman, one of Shell’s principal PR agencies, said in relation to a 2017 campaign that the oil and gas giant set the task of “giving millennials a reason to connect emotionally with Shell’s commitment to a sustainable future”.

This mirrored a BP strategy document leaked in 2020, which showed how the firm sought to “reach influencers” in order to become “more relatable, passionate, and authentic” and “win the trust of the younger generation” – admitting that the company is “seen as one of the bad guys”.

In the US alone, DeSmog found 70 influencers, with a combined following of 17.5 million, who had promoted fossil fuel firms since 2017.