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Automobile manufacturers, as an industry, have an annual advertising budget of running in the billion of dollars.
It’s no secret that automobile advertising is omnipresent in our public spaces and on our screens. With its multi-billion dollar annual promotion budgets, the automotive industry is one of the biggest players on the international advertising market, just behind the retail trade.
Faced with such an adversary, the actors of sustainable mobility are struggling to make the weight, to such an extent that some are now asking that our public authorities intervene to limit the scope of these promotional messages.
We did it with the tobacco industry, which has no longer had the right to promote its products, why we couldn’t do it with cars?
The facts are there: the road transport sector is responsible for more than a third of greenhouse gas emissions. And we have tried to campaign for the implementation of measures facilitating carpooling or for the creation of new reserved lanes, but despite our efforts, the car fleet continues to increase each year! Worse still, sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are selling the most today.
We have to admit that there is indeed a significant imbalance of resources between car manufacturers and those involved in sustainable mobility.
In fact, the former have, as an industry, a huge annual advertising budget, which represents almost 15% of all advertising investments made in America. In addition, in recent years, advertisements on digital platforms, such as social networks, which, unlike those posted along motorways or broadcast on local television and radio, are not necessarily produced by agencies.
35% of greenhouse gas emissions
35% is the share greenhouse gas emissions for which road transport (motorcycle, automobile, light truck and heavy vehicle) was responsible in 2016. This represents an increase of more than 50% since 1990.
When we look at these budgets, we cannot deny the gap that exists between the different players, such talking about road safety, which has a ridiculous budget. How do you want to weigh against these giants? This fight is a bit like David against Goliath.
Better control
To turn the tide, and be consistent with our collective environmental objectives, some experts believe that public authorities should begin to seriously consider the place occupied by these advertisements in our collective spaces and the messages that they broadcast.
Some think that in an ideal world, they should be banned outright. Because we know very well that advertising has an impact on sales … However, we am still aware that there will always be a place for electric cars and that, in any case, we are still far from a such scenario.
Generally, when you attack the car, there are economic ins and outs that scare those who sit on our parliamentary hills. By acting directly with the industry rather than by putting in place measures to limit the purchasing power of consumers, for example, elected officials would probably avoid the grievances of those who brought them to power.
In the absence of anything better, governments should at least put in place mechanisms to regulate the amounts that are invested annually by industry in the promotion of their products. This could, for example, involve the imposition of an investment cap or the introduction of a new tax.
Then nothing would prevent us from reinvesting these sums in the promotion, or even the development, of the alternative modes of transport.
Millions of vehicles
Millions of vehicles weighing less than 4,500 kg (passenger cars and sport utility vehicles) are registered every year in America.
At the present time, nothing prevents the debate from slowly making its way to the four corners of the planet, as evidenced by the growing number of articles on the subject published in the local media and on social networks.
Nor does it mean that more stringent standards have not been put in place elsewhere in the world to better control the messages the automotive industry sends to the public. This is the case, for example, in France where, since 2012, car manufacturers and their advertisers can no longer stage SUVs in natural settings.
Described as misleading and deceptive, these advertisements, denounced, among others, by the France nature environment association, had finally to be withdrawn, following a court decision.
We are not saying that the automobile industry is lying to us with its advertisements, but we admit all the same that we have rarely seen, in reality, a car drive at full speed in a city center completely free of obstacles. Of course we are sold a dream … but at what price? So who knows, maybe it is through the courts that things will finally happen.
In 2012, a report highlighted the glorification of certain risky behaviors in automobile advertisements. At the time, and in previous years, we could thus see on television commercials depicting dangerous overtaking or car racing. Initiated following a record number of complaints from concerned consumers, this reflection on the influence of advertisements on the behavior of motorists finally led to a revision of the guidelines surrounding the content of advertising campaigns broadcast.
We were also interested in this question because there was an appearance of imbalance between the means used by the industry to disseminate its messages and those available to the company responsible for road safety prevention campaigns. They couldn’t compete with them otherwise.
These changes were made in collaboration with the industry though. Yes, there have been changes, but in order for things to move, not only must it bother consumers, but also industry must be ready to do so. Otherwise, it takes state intervention.
