No laughing matter: Viral videos skewer corporate greenwashing

It’s not exactly breaking news that companies are increasingly resorting to greenhushing for fear of political retaliation in an increasingly anti-climate U.S.

On the flipside, the petrochemical industry, in particular, has perfected greenwashing by downplaying its role in the climate crisis, most recently by blocking global action on a plastics treaty, frustrating corporate leaders in other sectors.

But sustainability professionals also risk being laughed at by left-leaning influencers and activists.

In the viral videos below, comedians and satirists of all stripe take aim at industry doublespeak and denial.

The takeaway for communicators?

“You need clear proof of action before putting out communications about it,” said Luke Purdy, the Amsterdam-based director of sustainability at Wieden + Kennedy. “Put simply: a little less PR spin, a little more action.”

‘Deny Hard’

A meteorologist delivers a Dec. 12 “Extreme Weather Report.” Backed by footage of a “series of isolated and unrelated storms” in Southeast Asia, he offers a word from the fictional sponsor: “Exxon Mobil thanks people everywhere who have adapted to these turbulent times by losing their homes, bank accounts and lives so that Exxon Mobil could continue protecting all of us from the free, clean energy of the sun.”

This latest fake-weather-series video comes from Yellow Dot Studios, which was founded by Hollywood director Adam MacKay in 2023 after striking climate-comedy gold with the film “Don’t Look Up.” The studio’s other highlights: A Sept. 30 trailer for a spoof blockbuster, “Deny Hard,” parodies how “big polluters” would make action movies.

‘Scrub, scrub, scrub’

A giant green sponge soaps away negative headlines, soaks in a hot tub with executives and twerks with the Wall Street bull statue. The character, Scrubby Greenwash, targets luxury cruise lines including Royal Caribbean for releasing methane from liquefied natural gas. “If the industry doesn’t act fast, this information could hurt their bottom line,” a narrator says. Scrubby bursts through a wall. “Scrub, scrub, scrub sad facts away.”

The spoof, which debuted in December 2024, comes from the Yes Men collective. Some people found the video through a QR code in a fake ad for an advertising firm in Maritime Executive magazine. Since the 1990s, the Yes Men have staged hoaxes to stress-test the sincerity of Dow Chemical and others. Pranksters Jacques Servin and Igor Vamos have spent the past five years mocking empty climate pledges.

‘Green Enough’

A marketing intern at bank Société Générale tells Parisians on the street about a new campaign, “Green Enough”: “We’re burning the planet, yes, but we’re doing it in a responsible way,” he says. However, that fake character is actually satirist Oli Frost’s latest attack, via YouTube, on a financial institution.

The Dec. 6 clip calls out the bank for funding Adani Group of India: “The good and the bad cancels out: burn a tree, hug a bunny, underwrite a $409 million bond to the world’s largest private coal company,” he says. “For every coal mine we fund, we plant one tree.”

Frost, a singer-songwriter, produces a parade of short videos, suiting up to ping ludicrous questions at executives. In May he launched a fake “meditation” app, Edelman Oilwell, poking the PR giant for its oil and gas client roster. Frost has also created a fake ad agency and a video game “to annoy fossil fuel financiers.”