The anti-oil group needs to switch tactics if they want to garner the support they desire for the fight against climate change
A video of climate change protesters throwing tomato soup on Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” painting went viral across the internet in October, prompting confusion and outrage. While the painting was behind a layer of glass and was not harmed by their actions, British climate activism group Just Stop Oil has come under heavy scrutiny for the stunt. Just Stop Oil has staged several similarly confusing protests lately, including smashing cake on a figure of King Charles III and attempting to deface other paintings.
While the group has made a name for itself as an anti-oil group, it has close ties to the industry. The group received a foundational grant by Aileen Getty, an heiress of Getty Oil, a now defunct oil marketing company. Getty has taken an interest in atoning for her family’s climate sins and donated large amounts of money to several environmental causes.
Just Stop Oil was founded in February of 2022 and has been committed to non-violent civil disobedience protests since. After its founding, the group staged a spring season full of protests, which resulted in over 1,000 arrests of Just Stop Oil protesters. Just Stop Oil has attempted to disrupt numerous soccer games and even the British Grand Prix.
Unfortunately, Just Stop Oil’s protests have done little for climate change and have only garnered criticism. The group’s main goal seems to be climate change awareness, which is superfluous at this point. Climate change is a pressing topic in the developed world, and this kind of awareness raising has been done time and time again. Anyone with the capacity to hear about these protests already knows about climate change.
The problem with Just Stop Oil’s protests is that the spotlight is focused on the property or art that they deface, not on their goal. Protests involving art or other significant pieces of culture muddle the message, and make it seem like the protest is targeted at the piece of art. If Just Stop Oil protesters had a more focused message, such as defacing or disrupting objects and events specifically related to the oil industry, their objective would become more clear. In the extremely short social media trending cycle, users may only see a clip of the actual event, such as the viral video of the protesters throwing soup on the van Gogh painting, and not grasp the message. Meaningful climate activism can and has been done, such as by Greta Thunberg and her powerful speeches, or by directly calling out those refusing to act against climate change. The protests by Just Stop Oil do not ingratiate their message to its naysayers, but instead make it easy to attack their methods of protest because they are causing harm to those unrelated to the oil industry.
Because climate activism groups are vital in the fight against climate change, the messaging these groups present must be carefully considered. Just Stop Oil desperately needs new tactics in order to present a clearer message that will not get caught up in internet arguments over the importance of van Gogh or a wax figure of King Charles III.
