Protest groups from diverse social backgrounds unite across three distinct advocacy organizations to erect over 400 provocative billboards throughout Europe, employing subversive tactics to expose automotive giants like Toyota and BMW for touting zero-carbon electric vehicles while secretly urging policymakers to prolong the lifespan of combustion-powered cars for years to come. The objective of these billboards is to prompt native governments to take action by banning advertisements promoting combustion vehicles, while also acknowledging the harsh reality.
Brandalism, a UK-based collective of artists and activists, defines its mission on its website manifesto as creating a world “empty of mad empires, manufactured fears, paranoid goals, and marauded lands.” The group vows to combat fact in the face of oppression and injustice, having campaigned against social issues like body image, air pollution, and environmental concerns, including climate change.
This week, the group unveiled a subvertising marketing campaign aimed at calling out legacy automakers like Toyota for their deceptive commercials, which may tout the benefits of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) while publicly opposing climate-friendly policies.
Activists from the groups Brandalism, Subvertisers’ Worldwide, and Extinction Rebellion collaborated on a large-scale project, replacing over 400 billboards across 14 European cities with satirical advertisements that highlight Toyota’s questionable practices.
We strongly advocate recognizing the efforts of these dedicated activists and artists, whose tireless work warrants acknowledgment. As such, we recommend exploring the entire Twitter thread and visiting each organization’s website to gain a deeper understanding and join the fight against climate change and social inequality.
Throughout Europe, they showcased their subvertising expertise with several notable examples.
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Designed by Darren Cullen. Put into being by Extinction Rebellion London. -
Left: Contemporary artworks by anonymous artists, installed by environmental activists Extinction Rebellion Belgium and Subvertisers International, as a form of guerrilla art and street activism. Proper: Artwork by Hogre
In a recent article published by Brandalism, Tona Merriman, a representative of the collective, addressed the reasoning behind their subvertising marketing campaign. The spokesperson criticized Toyota and BMW for employing greenwashing tactics and highlighted the dwindling tolerance within European society for such advertising efforts.
As the company touts its “Past Zero” environmental campaign, Toyota simultaneously advocates for relaxed global air pollution regulations and threatens legal action to protect its profits from a climate crisis that imperils our collective future. Their adverts are duplicitous. Automotive giants Toyota and BMW employ sleek marketing strategies to promote their luxury sport utility vehicles (SUVs), which often contribute to congested urban landscapes. Electric SUVs pose a significant concern, not being a solution, due to their massive size, which often renders them unsuitable for smaller parking spaces, and their substantial height and weight creating a heightened risk of pedestrian harm, especially children, involved in highway crashes.
As the deadline approaches for phasing out gasoline and diesel vehicles in Europe and the UK by 2030, environmental activists are now calling for an immediate halt to the sales of all combustion-powered automobiles. This intention mirrors tobacco-style regulations introduced in the 1990s that effectively curtailed the promotion of deadly smoking products.
Subversive adverts targeting Toyota and BMW have been strategically placed at bus stops, on billboards, and across prominent areas in London, Berlin, Stuttgart, Paris, Nantes, Brussels, Ghent, Bristol, Derby, Glasgow, Norwich, Brighton, and Exeter.
Headline picture: Artwork by
