Greenpeace has denounced the sponsorship of fossil fuels in the world of sport with the release of a distressing video showing the Stade de France being drowned in a flood of petroleum. The video, aimed specifically at French oil giant TotalEnergies, seeks to denounce the sponsorship of major fossil fuel companies at major sporting events such as the upcoming 2023 Men’s Rugby World Cup, which kicks off on Sept. 8. According to Greenpeace, the sponsorship is aimed at improving the company’s image around the world, a marketing tactic it calls “sportswashing.” Greenpeace Aotearoa had previously called on New Zealand Rugby to drop its sponsorship deal with UK oil and plastics producer Ineos. “It’s disturbing that polluters like TotalEnergies and Ineos would use rugby to sportswash their reputation, and I consider that many of our rugby players from these same communities are expected to wear their brand,” commented plastics campaigner Juressa Lee.
The animated 60-second film, “TotalPollution: A Dirty Game,” digitally fills up the Stade De France – the stadium in Paris where the first match between France and the All Blacks will take place on Sept. 8 – with the amount of crude oil that the global fossil fuel industry collectively produces in three hours and 37 minutes. According to Greenpeace, that’s more than six and a half stadiums worth of oil every 24 hours. The animated video shows oil spilling out of TotalEnergies logos dotted around the stadium, knocking over the rugby players and fans in their seats, who are represented by mannequins. The last 10 seconds of the video feature footage of real climate destruction caused both directly and indirectly by the fossil fuel industry.
Greenpeace said it received a cease and desist letter from Rugby World Cup Limited for the use of the Rugby World Cup logos ahead of the video’s official release. The statement also requested Greenpeace immediately remove the video from its social media platforms. However, Greenpeace affirmed that it will not be silenced, adding fossil fuel companies like TotalEnergies to sponsor events like the Men’s Rugby World Cup to distract everyone from their climate destruction.
TotalEnergies is one of the official sponsors of the tournament but is not one of the main ”Worldwide Partners,” like Société Générale, Mastercard, Capgemini, Emirates and Land Rover Defender, listed on the official website. In 2019, TotalEnergies was a candidate to sponsor the 2024 Olympics in Paris. The city of Paris had expressed its concerns in a letter to the Olympic organizing committee and, without mentioning the company’s name, highlighted Paris’ commitment to “ensure that this project is exemplary in terms of the environment.” No TotalEnergies marketing campaigns will be seen at next year’s Olympics.
