Sep 1, 2021-2021
United Kingdom
Barclays Brandalism Campaign
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ACTIVISTS/ACT.GROUPS/DESCRIPTION OF THE GROUP
Various graphical artists
TARGET
Barclays Bank
WIDELY HELD BELIEF
That companies with the financial capabilities of Barclays should be contributors to positive environmental change rather than funding its opponents.
CASE NARRATIVE
Issue and Opponent: The UK bank Barclays is among the most prominent investors in fossil-fuel companies. Because of this, Brandalism wished to raise awareness of how environmentally damaging the Barclays investment portfolios were.
Dilemma Action: The Brandalism activist group targeted UK bank Barclays by creating billboards and posters across the UK alerting passersby of the bank’s investment practices. This was done months ahead of the COP26 Climate Summit, in which Barclays would be predicted to announce their green initiatives despite being one of the largest investors in fossil-fuel companies.
Outcome: An outcome was achieved when a Barclays spokesman announced that the bank will aim to align its investments with the Paris Agreement guidelines in response to the protests. By 2025, they will have reduced the emissions intensity of their power portfolio by 30% and its absolute emissions intensity by 15%.
PRIMARY STRUGGLE/GOAL
NONVIOLENT TACTICS USED
DA TACTICS USED
Banners/posters/displayed communications
Brandalism
CASE NARRATIVE WRITER
SUCCESS METRICS
9 / 12
(CONC) Concessions were made
(EREP) Dilemma action got replicated by other movements
(MC) Media Coverage
(OR) Opponent response
(PS) Dilemma action built sympathy with the public
(REFR) Dilemma action reframed the narrative of the opponent
(SA) Dilemma action appealed to a broad segment of the public
Artivism
Laugtivism
PART OF A LARGER CAMPAIGN
0 / 3
RESOURCES
Project documentation
Dilemma Actions Coding Guidebook
Case study documentation
Dilemma_Actions_Analysis_Dataset
SOURCES
Anon. 2021. “Brandalism hacks more than 200 billboards across UK.” StreetArtNews, September 24. Retrieved July 23, 2023. https://streetartnews.net/2021/09/brandalism-hacks-more-than-200-billboards-across-uk.html.
de Ferrer, Marthe. 2021. “These hijacked billboards take aim at “Europe’s Dirtiest Bank.”” Euronews, September 29. Retrieved July 23, 2023. https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/09/22/artists-hijack-billboards-to-protest-the-greenwashing-of-europe-s-dirtiest-bank.
Team Ecohustler. 2021. “Barclays Bullsh*t.” Ecohustler, September 22. Retrieved July 23, 2023. https://ecohustler.com/nature/barclays-bullsht.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/artists-hijack-billboards-protest-greenwashing053346608.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAA6KpDnLX64-m8Zb7eaMcY3DwmlKl2tFq5kUCEf1HNkhA7fDBdTzUJhZPXZBjBvXDoDWtIUs6ynww83E6o5udZ3QgiQMXAkPCk63GG58rZkncCGWmBsy-fp5GnHsTxv-wtz5R926hSUYSaQS8mSSHpMVACSCMUqcKs78kejpSaqw. Accessed April 15, 2022.
Ambrose, Jillian. 2021. “Barclays has financed $5.6bn in new fossil fuel projects since January.” The Guardian, November 2. Retrieved July 23, 2023. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/02/barclays-has-financed-56bn-in-new-fossil-fuel-projects-since-january-cop26.
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