Fiji airport billboards call foul on fossil fuel advertising in Comms Declare campaign via Brains

Ministers and dignitaries arriving in Fiji for the Pre-COP talks will be met at Nadi International Airport by billboards with a clear message: it’s time to call foul on fossil fuel advertising.

The campaign, created by advertising agency Brains for climate communications charity Comms Declare, lands as the fossil fuel industry steps up its advertising spend to convince Australians that they are a force for good. In the first quarter of 2026, Australia’s fossil fuel companies spent $48.5 million on advertising, up nearly 7% on the same period in 2025, according to Standard Media Index figures. Over the 90 days to 1 May, more than $1 million was spent on Facebook advertising alone.

Says Imogen Dall, creative director at Brains: “Ad agencies aren’t neutral. When we put our name to a fossil fuel campaign, we’re helping to promote greenwashing in its widest sense.

“Ours is not a fringe position anymore. It’s the reason a growing number of agencies have committed to Comms Declare’s pledge not to promote fossil fuels, in the same way many of us stopped working with tobacco long ago.”

“Fossil fuel advertising, like cigarette, alcohol and gambling advertising, harms human health and threatens our survival. It needs to end now.

“Emissions from burning coal, oil and gas are driving warming that is already reshaping the Pacific. In Tuvalu, where a leaders’ event will be held alongside the Pre-COP, according to UNDP, around half of the capital, Funafuti, could be inundated by 2050.

“The industry that profits from delay is using advertising to persuade the public that the transition is too expensive.

“The bill for delay is already here. Natural disasters cost the Australian economy an estimated $38 billion a year on average, and even in a low-emissions scenario that rises to at least $73 billion by 2060, according to Deloitte Access Economics. Insured losses from extreme weather have averaged around $4.5 billion a year over the past five years, and home insurance premiums have risen 51% in five years. Australians are already paying for climate change.”

Says Belinda Noble, Founder of Comms Declare: “The Pacific needs big coal and gas exporters such as Australia to step up, and an easy step Australia can take is to stop the fossil fuel advertising that is fuelling high emissions lifestyles and climate breakdown.”

Momentum for advertising restrictions is building. France has banned fossil fuel advertising nationally, and more than 60 jurisdictions, including Sydney, Amsterdam and Stockholm have restricted it. In August, a New South Wales parliamentary committee recommended the state government examine restrictions on fossil fuel advertising and sponsorship, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called on all governments to act.

Register for FREE HERE and receive the Campaign Brief Daily Bulletin and/or the global Best Ads Best of the Week Bulletin.              Subscribe to Campaign Brief Magazine.

#More Creative News   #No paywalls   #No annual membership fees

Subscribe to Portfolio & Reel for current listings of Australian and NZ ad agency and production company leadership and key personnel