Climate Activists Slam Toyota’s Role in 2024 Paris Olympics with Guerrilla Art Campaign

The eco-resistance is alive and well in Paris, where the Summer Olympic Games begin today.

Activists have condemned Toyota‘s sponsorship of the upcoming Olympic Games with over 100 guerrilla advertisements in key locations in Paris and five other major French cities, the Art Newspaper reports, drawing attention to the automaker’s greenhouse gas emissions. 

These guerrilla artworks, coordinated by Paris-based Résistance à l’Agression Publicitaire (RAP) and the Brandalism collective, criticize the Olympic organizing committee for partnering with organizations that they say are polluting the environment. The posters, installed in bus stop ad spaces between July 22 and July 25 in Paris, Lille, Lyon, Saint-Étienne, Strasbourg, and Rennes, highlight Toyota’s emissions.

“As the world shifts away from fossil fuels, Toyota stubbornly continues to produce millions more oil-powered vehicles every year,” activist Sonnie Bird said in a statement posted to the Brandalism blog. “If Toyota were a country its greenhouse gas emissions would outrank all but eleven of the countries participating in this year’s Games, many of which are already on the front lines of climate breakdown.”

One of the artworks, created by Michelle Tylicki, depicts a gold medal with the Toyota logo dripping in oil. The work states, “Toyota, proud to be the most polluting sponsor of the 2024 Olympic Games.”

In 2022, Toyota’s emissions totaled 575 million tons of carbon dioxide, surpassing France’s national emissions and accounting for 1.5 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. Other posters reimagine famous artworks, like Leonardo’s Mona Lisa and Van Gogh’s Starry Night, to include Toyota vehicles and their pollution. They are accompanied by the text reading, “Art belongs in Paris. Giant polluters do not.”

The 33rd Olympic Games have faced criticism from climate groups over sponsorship by companies such as Toyota, Air France, and steelmaker ArcelorMittal. A recent report predicted that this year’s Olympics will be the hottest on record, featuring testimonies from athletes who have experienced extreme heat in sports.

The UK-based Badvertising campaign calculated that the combined carbon emissions from the sponsorship deals of the three most polluting sponsors are equivalent to eight coal power plants operating for a year.

A Toyota representative did not immediately respond to request for comment.