Advertising is selling us a dream, a lifestyle. It promises us fulfilment and tells us where to buy it – from international flights to a vast array of goods we consume like there is no tomorrow. The truth is, if advertising succeeds in keeping us on our current trajectory, there may not be a tomorrow.
In Badvertising, Andrew Simms and Leo Murray raise the alarm on an industry that is making us both unhealthy and unhappy, and that is driving the planet to the precipice of environmental collapse in the process.
What is the psychological impact of being barraged by literally thousands of advertisements a day? How does the commercialisation of our public spaces weaken our sense of belonging? How are car manufacturers, airlines and oil companies lobbying to weaken climate action? Examining the devastating impact of advertising on our minds and on the planet, Badvertising also crucially explores what we can do to change things for the better.
Andrew Simms was called a ‘master at joined-up progressive thinking’ by New Scientist magazine. He co-authored the original Green New Deal, came up with Earth Overshoot Day, and jointly proposed the Fossil Fuel Non- Proliferation Treaty. He is the author of several books including Ecological Debt, Tescopoly, Cancel the Apocalypse and Economics: A Crash Course. He co-directs the New Weather Institute, is Assistant Director of Scientists for Global Responsibility, coordinates the Rapid Transition Alliance and is a Research Fellow at the University of Sussex.
Leo Murray co-founded climate action charity Possible, where he is currently Director of Innovation, as well as noughties direct action pressure group Plane Stupid and pioneering solar rail enterprise Riding Sunbeams. Murray is also the creator of the Frequent Flyer Levy and the brains behind the Trump Baby blimp which rose to global fame during Donald Trump’s US presidency.
