Fossil Fuel Companies Target Women Influencers

What do a nail artist, a grandmother, and a pregnant woman have in common? They’re all influencers shilling for fossil fuel companies on social media.

A study out Tuesday from DeSmog, a climate site, found that the three are part of an “army” of influencers being employed to greenwash pollutive companies. ExxonMobil, Shell, and Conoco have each paid one of these influencers to promote their products.

The grandmother, Nora Capistrano Sangalang, who is Filipina and known as “Mama Nora” or “Lola” on TikTok and Instagram, says that Shell’s fuel rewards program “sounds lit.” The Washington Post exposed that Conoco paid an influential nail artist named Lizzy for sponsored posts, one of which shows her creating a fish caught on an ocean of nail. Lizzy — no last name given — also appears to be queer.

The paper found another example: An influencer named Brooke Scheurn posted a video last year promoting ExxonMobil’s fuel rewards program. Scheurn, visibly pregnant, is seen taking her son to the park, getting an ultrasound, and getting gas while using ExxonMobil’s rewards program, all set to David Bowie’s “Fashion.” Comments on the post are mostly along the lines of “Getting it all done mama!💪🏼” and “productive mama😍”.

While I’m sure there are plenty of male influencers paid by these companies too, I can’t help but think this use of female stereotypes is intentional, and the whole point of such campaigns. Target women: Men love pretty women! Women love mommy bloggers! Everyone loves a grandma! Including a queer woman and a Filipina only enhances these companies’ intent to reach a younger, more inclusive generation.

A 2022 study from Harvard found that these companies have used specific imagery “to strengthen firms’ messages of greenwashing and misdirection,” reports the Brussels-based Euronews. “Numerous posts featured/depicted female, non-binary and non-Caucasian presenting people, as well as young people, experts, sportspeople, celebrities, and nature.

“The report details how female-presenting people, in particular, have been used by these companies to target sales at that demographic and leverage social associations between ‘greenness’ and femininity.”

There has been some pushback. One commenter on Lizzy’s post wrote: “WHERE ARE LIzzies [sic] VALIES? [sic] She may be talented but has she sold herself out to the oil companies?”

And, despite these women shilling for the oil companies, women have been at the forefront of the environmental movement, even showing in studies to care more about climate change than men.

A July NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll revealed that 59 percent of women surveyed said climate change is a significant problem, compared to 49 percent of men. Another poll, this one by the Public Policy Institute of California, found that 86 percent of women in California cited climate change as a top concern, while only a little over 75 percent of men said as much.

And Pheasant Energy, an oil and gas company based in Fort Worth, approached a sustainability blogger named Francesca Willow in May about publishing a post from them, The Washington Post reports. She declined, writing: “The International Energy Agency has been clear on the need for a transition away from oil and gas. Please act accordingly.”