‘Ethical oil’ ad campaign riles Saudis
An ad campaign that discourages oil imports from Saudi Arabia because of its poor human rights record has drawn the ire of that country.
‘We caught this foreign dictatorship trying to undermine freedom of the press here in Canada and trying to export its own contempt for democracy, its own contempt for freedom of the press here in Canada,’ said Alykhan Velshi, founder of the group Ethicaloil.org.
His organization ran a tough-talking ad campaign on Oprah Winfrey Network Canada in August that has a woman announcer denounce Saudi oil imports: ‘We bankrolled a state that doesn’t allow women to drive, doesn’t allow them to leave their homes or work without their male guardian’s permission and a state where a woman’s testimony only accounts for half of a man’s.
‘Why are we paying their bills and funding their oppression?’ the announcer then asks.
The ads push energy from Alberta’s oilsands as an ethical alternative.