Reversing the Trend on Ads For Gas-Powered Cars, SUVs, Light Trucks

(This post is sourced from the David Suzuki Foundation campaign to regulate ads for gas-powered cars and light duty trucks.)

Reversing the trend

The Canadian Government has pledged to reduce emissions by 40-45% by 2030 as part of its overall climate strategy. The transportation sector—which accounts for 25% of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs)—is an obvious target for emission reductions. Canada has committed that 100% of new vehicles sales will be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 2035, rising to 100% by 1940. And yet, auto manufacturers continue their relentless ad campaigns to sell gas-powered vehicles like there’s no tomorrow. Because, for combustion vehicles, there is no tomorrow.

Ads for vehicles are not regulated often depicting nature settings, pleasure outings and no mention of fuel consumption amounts or effects on the environment.

(Click here for the June 29, 2021 Government of Canada news release.)

The impact of ads on the vehicles we buy

---

The link between advertising and purchasing behaviour is strong. A 2021 Équiterre study shows that nearly half of new vehicle buyers admit that their decision was influenced by some type of media.

Yet Canada has no regulations to govern advertising on gas-powered cars, despite their environmental impact. — excerpt from Campaign

Car advertising, including ads for light-duty trucks, is prevalent in Canada. The automotive industry alone accounted for 21% of total digital advertising investment in 2018, putting it at the top of the list

• Four out of five (80%) new vehicles sold in Canada in 2020 were light-duty trucks – including sport utility vehicles (SUVs), crossover utility vehicles (CUVs), pickup trucks and minivans.
• Gas-powered vehicles, particularly light-duty trucks, have significant multidimensional impacts and we must recognize their proliferation on our roads as a public health and safety issue. We need to increase advertising regulations in order to reduce the demand for gas-powered large vehicles. (excerpts from campaign)
  

  ---

Sign the Petition

The petition demands that:

---

1. That the federal government commit to banning advertising for all internal combustion vehicles by 2025;
2. That the federal government immediately tighten the regulatory framework for automobile advertising, with a focus on the heaviest and most energy-consuming vehicles;
3. That the Board of Directors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation update its advertising policy to no longer show advertising for internal combustion vehicles;
4. That there be no cost to CBC to update its advertising policy. Automotive advertising is getting in the way of our climate goals and our work to protect our environment. It is high time that we stop allowing this influence.
   

   ---

Sign the Petition

For the full text of the petition and references, click on David Suzuki Foundation.

ICYMI:
We Need To Do More and Faster Says New Climate Minister Guilbeault
Climate Change: Adaptation Is No Longer a Dirty Word
Canada’s Big Oil Reality Check

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.