The Forgotten Oil Ads That Told Us Climate Change Was Nothing

• This article details the strategies used in oil and gas industry advertisements since the 1960s.
• Students will learn when oil executives knew about global warming, what persuasive strategies they used to convince the public not to worry, and how these strategies changed with public perception.

Positives

• This article is eye-opening and will be interesting for students to read.
• The included visuals tell the story well and add a great component to the article.
  

Additional Prerequisites

• Students should have a good understanding of climate change and the motivations of profit-based businesses.
• You may want to tell students that the video is about a oil and gas company's renewable initiative before they watch it.
  

Differentiation

• This resource would work equally well in science classes learning about the history of climate change, language arts classes focusing on persuasive rhetoric, or in economics classes.
• Cross-curricular connections could also be made in art classes by studying the ads or in social studies classes debating the actions of these corporations. 
• Middle school students would likely benefit from reading this resource as a group and discussing. Use the images and subtitles to drive the conversation.
• High school and college students should be able to read the article independently and be ready to have a robust conversation.
• Consider having students choose an ad to write about. They can write a rebuttal to the ad or an open letter the to the oil company.