Urging Americans to declare their freedom from big oil companies this Independence Day, three environmental organizations have launched a crowdfunding campaign on Crowdtilt called “Exxon Hates America” in an attempt to take down the large corporation.
According to International Business Times, Other98, Oil Change International, and Environmental Action are attempting to take down Exxon over its fossil fuel-dependent business model. During the campaign, a satirical commercial has attacked the oil giant for costing billion of dollars in subsidies.
Leaders of the campaign stated, “Our new ad, Exxon Hates America, [is] aimed [to] expose the link between Big Oil’s government-buying and climate chaos.”
The 30-second clip, which was uploaded on YouTube Tuesday (July 1), featured a fake ExxonMobil executive telling the American people that Uncle Sam is powerless against the company’s power and influence. “Sure oil hurts communities and endangers the planet. But the truth is, you can’t stop us from drilling. Why? Because we own the government.”
Since its launch, the commercial has been viewed more than 9,500 times. Revealing the key reason for the campaign, the leaders wrote, “Our goal is simple: with $6,000, we can air the ad in up to 5 major metropolitan areas in the United States this 4th of July weekend; with $20,000, we can make an ad buy that will go down in history.
They also added, “As Congress debates yet another round of budget negotiation, perhaps no programs are less worthy of government support than those which subsidize Big Oil, Gas, and Coal. We need to be sure the public and our representatives in Washington know what’s really going on, and not get duped by industry spin. Help us place this important ad on the air, so we can push our Representatives in Washington to end this wasteful spending, and promote policies that protect our children’s futures.”
International Business Times also revealed that the new commercial is a follow-up to last year’s “Exxon Hates Your Children,” which claimed by allowing oil companies to damage the environment was tantamount to selling out our children’s future. Unfortunately, before the video was broadcast in February 2013, Exxon struck back with a cease-and-desist letter to Comcast Corp., asking that the ad not run. Comcast agreed and put an end to the ad. A spokesperson of Exxon stated, at the time, that the ad failed to “meet any basic standards of accuracy.”
Since its launch on Tuesday (July 1), the campaign has raised $2,701.95. It has until July 6th to raise its $6,000 goal along with its $20,000 stretch goal.
See the Exxon Hates America video below.
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