Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Shell using Fortnite, TikTok, etc. to convince kids fossil fuels are cool

kotaku.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 238 posts

Re: Shell using Fortnite, TikTok, etc. to convince kids fossil fuels are cool

#151

Post by aaomidi »

whatever1 wrote: post #97
aaomidi wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, here’s another idea: a tax on carbon. We are subsidizing fossil fuels by deferring their actual real cost to the future. We can and should stop doing that.

Who can impose this global tax you dream of? India currently is smuggling oil out of Russia because they offered a better price.

It doesn’t need to be global? It can be within your borders applying to domestic production and imports.

You can require an implementation and oversight of a carbon tax as part of a trade deal.

We’ve literally enforced a thousand different rules on the world as a collective species. Stop pretending this one is different.

Re: Shell using Fortnite, TikTok, etc. to convince kids fossil fuels are cool

#152

Post by viraptor »

andix wrote: post #120

I see a positive side: It's a sign that change is happening right now. Big oil never had to advertise the "benefits" of fuel, people just bought it. This slowly starts to change. And oil companies are crapping their pants, because in some countries a significant amount of cars on the roads will be EVs within a few years. In Europe some corporations already switched to a 100% EV company car policy. All new leases need…

> Big oil never had to advertise the "benefits" of fuel

Have I got news for you... Check out the latest ClimateTown video https://youtu.be/_pNRuafoyZ4 for just a few examples, but there's lots more and it's been happening for decades.

Re: Shell using Fortnite, TikTok, etc. to convince kids fossil fuels are cool

#153

Post by UncleSlacky »

IgorPartola wrote: post #71

I remember going to Disney World sometime in like 2003 or so. My dad decided he wa Ted to go to the Epcot center for some reason and their big feature presentation was on dinosaurs but really it was thinly veiled propaganda for the oil industry. It included a whole lot of repetition of the sentiment of “don’t worry. While we keep using more and more oil, we are always finding more.” It was pretty gross and in your fa…

Anyone else rememeber "Monsantovision" at Disney World in the 70s/80s? Much the same thing.

Re: Shell using Fortnite, TikTok, etc. to convince kids fossil fuels are cool

#154

Post by UncleSlacky »

whelp_24 wrote: post #116
littlestymaar wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Guns are as much part of the American culture as SUVs are: mostly fabricated by advertisement and corporate lobbying (which too is “part of the American culture”, I guess).

No. Guns literally are part of the founding od America. We got the second Amendment precisely because England tried to do things like take guns and quarter soldiers. Guns are and always have been part of American culture. I would also research the history of gun control the U.S, it may surprise you.

You got the second amendment from the English Bill of Rights of 1689 (along with most of the other 10), which states the same right (for Protestants only):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_of_Rights_1689#The_Act

Re: Shell using Fortnite, TikTok, etc. to convince kids fossil fuels are cool

#155

Post by Etheryte »

gray_-_wolf wrote: post #112
dottjt wrote: post #79

Quite literally last week I was randomly watching The Today Show (mainstream Australian breakfast television) and I couldn't believe what I just saw within the space of 5 minutes. It was the build up to the AFL grand final and there was a presenter on a football field with kids kicking footballs in the background. Anyway, he introduces the segment and it turns out it's a paid promotion for Shell. The show then cuts t…

> I don't get easily offended, but I've honestly never seen anything more disgusting in my entire life. Try watching some documentaries about Tiananmen Square or Uyghurs. I am curious if this statement will still hold.

Someone has a problem? I will bring my problem!

Re: Shell using Fortnite, TikTok, etc. to convince kids fossil fuels are cool

#156

Post by viraptor »

b112 wrote: post #15
cellu wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was it the green movement opposing nuclear power or fossil fuel companies?

Back when global warming wasn't really widely discussed, or even believed, nuclear power was seen as quite threatening to a environmentalist. After all, nuclear power was brand new. And the pollution and death if one goes bad...

Also anti-nuclear greens today and then were looking at significantly different tech. I mean, some of that started when the core catchers weren't a standard thing.

Re: Shell using Fortnite, TikTok, etc. to convince kids fossil fuels are cool

#157

Post by DandyDev »

blacklion wrote: post #34
awestroke wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I get that "Big Oil" might have delayed some reforms That's a huge understatement. They have actively sabotaged green initiatives all along. They have stopped green policies, and green policies is and has always been the ONLY way forward, you can't put shit like this on individuals.

Sometimes I think, that green policies are not stopped by Big Oil but undermined. You see, in many countries green policies are tied with rejection of nuclear power plants, which is much more effective and sustainable than all solar & wind sources. When I've lived in Russia, I've donated to Green Peace and WWF, because they helps a lot to save Nature Reserves, oppose predatory laws which allows to exploit Protected A…

How is nuclear power much more sustainable than solar and wind energy?

Re: Shell using Fortnite, TikTok, etc. to convince kids fossil fuels are cool

#158

Post by viraptor »

ravenstine wrote: post #24

On a topic not directly related to the article, there's a book written by a former CEO of Shell called "Why We Hate the Oil Companies" that's rather interesting. In summary, his points are that oil is not necessarily good or bad, but that the lack of effective energy policies and the inherent challenges of the field incentivize bad practices by oil companies, while simultaneously these companies fail to communicate t…

This is a corporation heavily investing in messaging and lobbying that makes sure they get subsidies rather than fines and regulation. Yes, that kind of comment about nuance is totally excusing them.

Re: Shell using Fortnite, TikTok, etc. to convince kids fossil fuels are cool

#159

Post by dottjt »

markjonsona989 wrote: post #148
dottjt wrote: post #79

Quite literally last week I was randomly watching The Today Show (mainstream Australian breakfast television) and I couldn't believe what I just saw within the space of 5 minutes. It was the build up to the AFL grand final and there was a presenter on a football field with kids kicking footballs in the background. Anyway, he introduces the segment and it turns out it's a paid promotion for Shell. The show then cuts t…

> I don't get easily offended, but I've honestly never seen anything more disgusting in my entire life. That's a pretty bold statement to make. I don't know what kind of isolated world you live in if you think that a Shell ad is the most disgusting thing you ever saw in your life, but I can give you a hundred examples off the top of my head. One example that might be related to this subject are working conditions in…

I get your point, but I think it's relative to the society which it takes place. Corruption in China? If anything, it's to be expected. It's a literal part of how their political system operates. Corruption in a liberal democracy? Much less acceptable. Of course, that's just one point of view.

As for your comment about EVs, I don't necessarily disagree. My main outrage is that they used children to sell oil.

As for your comment on competition, how can you expect to compete against big oil without regulation, possibly the biggest most powerful industry in the world? The problem is that there is nothing better than oil for what it does, which extends to the other problem that open markets don't care about externalities or planetary boundaries. Which is where people need to come in and put restrictions.

I'm curious, but would you have been against the breaking up of Standard Oil back in the day?

Re: Shell using Fortnite, TikTok, etc. to convince kids fossil fuels are cool

#160

Post by somsak2 »

andix wrote: post #128
whatever1 wrote: post #86

Fossil fuels are irreplaceable for what they offer at the price they ask. Don’t ask the West. Ask India that had the choice to leapfrog fossil fuels and be energy independent, at higher cost. People don’t care about our opinions. They want the cheapest options. The only way to transition out of fossils for energy, is to make the alternatives cheaper and easily accessible. US transitioned from coal to gas within 10 ye…

I live in "the west" and I can contribute to change there. So I do. Try to change what you can change, instead of thinking about what you can't change and not doing anything.

problem is, unlike other issues that can have positive local impacts, the biggest downsides to climate change are global. doesn't really matter that as the US/EU our emissions have been flat for decades now if china and India are shooting up like crazy.
Post reply on HN