API Uses Fake ‘Americans’ To Attack Fake ‘Energy Taxes’
API Uses Fake ‘Americans’ To Attack Fake ‘Energy Taxes’
Big Oil is using fake “Americans” to defend billions in tax subsidies. The American Petroleum Institute is running full-page ads in Politico and Roll Call that attack Congress for “new energy taxes”:
Congress will likely consider new taxes on America’s oil and natural gas industry. These new energy taxes will produce wide-reaching effects, and ripple through our economy when America — and Americans — can least afford it.
These unprecedented taxes will serve to reduce investment in new energy supplies at a time when most Americans support developing our domestic oil and natural gas resources. That means less energy, thousands of American jobs being lost and further erosion of our energy security.
Our economy is in crisis, and we need to get the nation on the road to economic recovery. This is no time to burden Americans with new energy costs.
The target of this ad is the Obama administration’s effort to remove $36 billion in loopholes and subsidies for the oil industry. As it turns out, the “Americans” presented in the ad are stock photos from Getty Images:
“Warehouse worker holding large wrench on shoulder”
“Woman working in a distribution warehouse”
“Man standing with hands in pocket”
Americans are paying the price for these subsidies with our tax dollars, our health, and our national security. Removing these subsidies would “ripple through the economy” by unleashing a clean-energy future.
This is just the latest in a stream of polluter front groups using stock photos in Astroturf campaigns against clean energy policy. API was recently caught trying to add diversity to its dirty ads by photoshopping minorities into stock photography. West Virginia’s “FACES of Coal” turned out to be from iStockPhoto.com. And Virginia’s “Coalition for American Jobs” is a stock-photo front group for the American Chemistry Council.
All the tearjerking bullshit about how these "new taxes" will destroy the economy and make life even more hellish for average Joes is just that: bullshit, lies, posturing propaganda. Now you'd think Brad might want to give the API's members credit for rare honesty in declaring upfront that if Congress goes along with this mad scheme to deprive them of those loopholes and subsidies, it's a done deal that they're going to make their customers pay for the drain on their galactic-level profits. Well, actually that isn't exactly the way the ad sees it playing out. What the ad says is that these imaginary taxes "will serve to reduce investment in new energy supplies," which in turn means "less energy, thousands of American jobs being lost and further erosion of our energy security." So it isn't so much that Americans are going to "pay for new energy taxes" as that the oil and gas megacorporations are going to stop investing in new reserves that will yield them even more megaprofits. Huh? Does anyone believe that?
6 Responses to “API Uses Fake ‘Americans’ To Attack Fake ‘Energy Taxes’”
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How can they possibly screw up an ad like this? Is it really that hard to find three real people you can photograph that actually support your agenda? Well, maybe it is. But maybe next time they should just buy a camera and pay somebody 50 bucks to stand around and look American.
March 10th, 2010 at 12:08 pmThis is a non-story. I’m with you being opposed to the API, but everyone uses stock images for messaging – including clean energy NGOs. The FACES of Coal campaign was ridiculous in how they used stock photos, but this is hardly outrageous.
March 10th, 2010 at 12:47 pmJon: You’re right that the real story is what the API is trying to promote — the idea that the American public should be on the side of tax breaks for oil companies.
March 10th, 2010 at 12:54 pmMy point wasn’t meant to smack down API, but to point out that an organization using an add with stock photos is not only lazy, but is handing the other side a small propaganda victory. This ad claims Americans will be hurt by higher taxes… can we even prove that these people are really Americans?
I don’t think this is really a story and progressives shouldn’t harp on it, but it is funny to see how hollow API’s campaign really is. At least they were smart enough to clip out the water stamp.
March 10th, 2010 at 2:24 pmWhat I wonder is whether they paid Getty for use of the images. :)
March 11th, 2010 at 7:34 amHave you noticed in the spots that they are running on MSNBC they use framing guides as if you are looking through a camcorder’s viewfinder. What a deceptively simple (and yet stupid) way of making this seem like an interview with a regular person instead of an actor paid by the American Petroleum Institute. Curious that they would run it on MSNBC where the viewers’ opinions will not be changed but that the reporters might be silenced…hmmmm.
March 12th, 2010 at 10:25 pm