How bad is @HKStrategies, the firm that is running communications for the UN Climate Talks #COP27?

Let's look at just one of their (many) greenwashing campaigns for Big Oil giant @Shell.

Grab a cup of coffee (literally) 🧵 https://t.co/brhLhkX6yY

Here again is the story in @openDemocracy that broke the news that the Egyptian government has hired @HKStrategies to run communications for the #COP27 climate talks starting in 2 weeks. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/cop27-hillknowlton-pr-greenwash-egypt/

The scandal has continued to grow over the last 5 days.

@GretaThunberg, Egyptian human rights activist @Monasosh and many others have shared the news...and new stories keep coming out. https://www.prweek.com/article/1803011/cop27-host-nation-criticised-using-greenwashing-pr-agency

So why is @HKStrategies so bad...and why shouldn't they be allowed anywhere near the UN Climate Process?

Let's look at this campaign they ran for Shell back in 2017 about...powering buses with coffee waste. https://www.hkstrategies.com/en/case-study/making-biofuels-from-coffee-waste-a-global-story-for-shell/ https://t.co/hF5HNNvFBg

This is ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Greenwashing right here. 10/10, no notes.

Let's start with the tagline: Make the Future. WTF does that even mean? Bit of an ironic slogan for a company actively destroying what future we may have on this planet, eh?

Next up: see how H+K pitched this as a "global story" for Shell?

This is a classic Big Oil PR strategy. Find one, little example of something good -- and act as if this what the entire company is all about.

And the media falls for it! According to H+K, 11.8 BILLION people were subjected to this BS.

That's likely inflated (hey, it's what PR people do), but still, you can google and find all sorts of articles about "London buses running on coffee!" https://www.cntraveler.com/story/london-buses-are-now-powered-by-coffee

So..is @Shell actually making fuel out of coffee now? Have they abandoned that sweet crude for a cup of java?

Hell no. Read the fine print and you can see that this project was only ever going to make enough fuel to power *one* London bus for a year. A single bus!

This entire partnership -- which Shell got 1,174 pieces of media coverage out of -- was based on a single $57,000 investment that Shell made with this company BioBean.

$57,000 for Shell is like less than a penny for your or me. https://t.co/3z3dHFuX2d

In reality, less than 1% of Shell's actual expenditures between 2010-2018 went to "low carbon" investments, many of which, as the coffee example shows, were never serious plans but just total greenwash.

You can read more about it from @ClientEarth here: https://www.clientearth.org/projects/the-greenwashing-files/shell/

Meanwhile, Shell went on to emit over a billion tonnes of CO2 a year, continue to expand oil and gas production, and fight against any attempts to hold them accountable for their climate impacts or human rights abuses. https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/shell-filed-appeal-against-landmark-dutch-climate-ruling-2022-03-29/

But none of that matters to @HKStrategies -- they're happy to *brag* about convincing the public that Shell is "making the future" when the oil giant is actively destroying it.

A PR firm like that should have no business representing the UN Climate Talks.

H+K needs to either come clean by dropping its fossil fuel clients or the UN Climate Talks need to find a new PR firm that won't spin the talks to benefit their Big Oil clients or share sensitive information with corporations like Shell. #COP27

Ok, that's all for now. If you want to learn more about the sordid history of @HKStrategies and their work for Big Tobacco and Big Oil, listen to @WeAreDrilled.
https://www.drilledpodcast.com/s3-the-mad-men-of-big-oil/

And follow @cleancreatives as we take on polluter PR!

Time for another cup of coffee☕️