In Brussels, a poster campaign by Extinction Rebellion against car manufacturers
Extinction Rebellion activists (illustrative image).
AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
As the 100th edition of the Auto Show opened its doors in Brussels, Extinction Rebellion activists decided to mark the occasion with a poster campaign across the city to denounce the messages of car manufacturers on the supposed ecological performances of their new models.
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Beneath a three-by-five-meter billboard that touts the merits of a French brand hybrid car, three young women in overalls and fluorescent orange vests are preparing their gear.
"
We are preparing the glue that will be used to stick our posters,
" explains Capri, one of the three activists from
Extinction Rebellion
who is taking part in this operation.
And now, here, we have a good spot, easy to access.
We have no reason to rush
.
»
The network of activists, formed in the UK in 2018, specializes in civil disobedience operations to denounce what it describes as government inaction in the face of climate change.
This time, he asked British artists to make a series of posters to mock the advertising campaigns of car manufacturers, and since Thursday they are gradually displayed in Brussels on huge billboards.
Like with tobacco ads
After the marches for the climate, it was necessary to move up a gear, according to Gingko, who has been part of Extinction Rebellion for a year.
Car manufacturers are offering bigger and bigger models that have no place in the city and have a considerable carbon footprint.
"
It's mainly Toyota and BMW, because they have been identified as companies that actively participate in the lobbying of polluting cars, oil and diesel,
" she says.
For now, we can't do without vehicles, but the message is that we should perhaps do without the advertisements that harm us, just as a long time ago we banned advertisements for the tobacco.
»
400 car billboards replaced with @BrandalismUK and @SubvertisersInt during the #BrusselsMotorShow.
While advertising their electric vehicles, @BMW and @Toyota are the car industry's most active pro-#FossilFuels #lobbyists.
In fact, real EVs make up only 0.2% of Toyota's sales.
https://t.co/lhKsgSyPCR
— Extinction Rebellion Belgium (@XR_Belgium) January 16, 2023
In the meantime, the poster is now stuck up, we see a car registered CO2 XXL driving into town and destroying everything in its path under the slogan "
Land Crusher, crush life
".
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