Badvert of the Month: Emirates, Kia and Santos

Companies: Emirates, Kia and Santos

Location: 2021 Australian Tennis Open

A sea of high-carbon sponsors

Global sports are floating on a sea of high-carbon sponsorship. Our latest report “Sweat not oil” found more than 250 sponsorship between sporting clubs and events over a range of 13 different sports and flagship events (such as: football, cricket, basketball, sailing, cycling, athletics). Traditional adverts on billboards, television or in newspapers and magazines have a specific purpose - to boost consumer demand and sell products. Sponsorships do that too, but also have a more subtle and equally influential impact. They set out to improve the image of the sponsor through association to who, or what, is being sponsored. In this way sponsorship deals seek to shape the public perception of the sponsor and boost their credibility to the public. It’s one of the reasons why the tobacco industries, which used to use doctors in adverts, were once heavy sponsors of healthy sporting activity even when there was ample science on the lethal consequences of smoking. 

Partnerships with cultural institutions - from museums, theatres, and festivals to sports - are particularly useful for companies to normalise their public image especially if they operate in a controversial industry. In recent years, there has been pressure on arts organisations over fossil fuels sponsorships on the grounds that cultural institutions should not serve as a social platform and ‘arts wash’ for highly polluting companies to hide behind. Artists and performers are standing up against the damage done by fossil fuel giants. Groups such as ‘Culture Unstained’, ‘BP or not BP’ or ‘Art Not Oil’ are asking museums and arts organisations to drop ties with polluters.

Today athletes and sports organisations including groups like Champions for Earth and Football for Future are similarly rising to the challenge.  They’re responding to the task posed by the climate crisis for the future of sports, and want to use their influence as “role models” in society to show real climate leadership. 

Showing polluters the “red card”

Not so long ago tobacco companies’ logos were plastered all over sports teams and competitions. Today we would find it inconceivable for sports organisations still to be helping tobacco companies promote themselves. When the damage done by smoking was considered a matter of public health, tobacco advertising and sponsorship of sport was ended. Today the same scrutiny needs to be applied to companies who are directly profiting from the climate crisis. Major polluters like fossil fuel, airlines and car companies need to be shown the red card and sent out of our sports stadiums and fields. Sport, as much as anyone else, needs to step up its game when it comes to action on climate change. That has to include rapid steps to decarbonise and putting an end to partnerships with big polluters. 

Companies background

Kia

Kia Corporation - known as Kia - is a multinational automotive manufacturer with headquarters in Seoul, South Korea. In 2019, the company was the second largest carmaker behind its parent company Hyundai Motor Company recording sales of over 2.8 million vehicles. The company is a big sponsor of sports with major partnerships such as with FIFA and UEFA.

Emirates 

Emirates is an international airline company headquartered in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The company is a subsidiary of Emirates Group, owned by the Government of Dubai’s Investment Corporation of Dubai. It is the largest airline in the Middle East and the world’s second largest airline in terms of freight tonne per kilometre flown. The company is behind major sponsorships in sports having deals with football, tennis, rugby, sailing, horse racing and golf clubs around the world.

Santos 

Santos Ltd is an Australian energy company and the country’s second largest oil and gas producer. The company supplies gas to mainland Australian states, ethane to Sydney and oil and liquids to both local and international customers. Santos is also active in off-shore oil and gas exploration in Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, India, Bangladesh, Egypt, Vietnam and Kyrgyzstan. The company is very active in sponsorships of sports and cultural events. It recently added its name to a major national tennis event - the Australian Open.