Pro-nuclear lobby group ramps up social media ad spend by nearly 150 pct

A pro-nuclear lobby group founded by high school student Will Shackel and backed by businessman Dick Smith has boosted its ad spend on Mark Zuckerberg-owned Meta sites by 148 per cent in January, new data has revealed.

The splurge was noticed by London-headquartered Who Targets Me, which tracks digital political ads, and local climate communications group Comm Declare.

The pro-nuclear group, Nuclear for Australia, spent $24,000 trying to reach 5 million people in Australia during the first month of the year. 

Ads on Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, mainly targeted middle-aged men (45-54 years) in Queensland with claims that nuclear power is safe, reliable and zero emissions. It also asked them to sign a petition to lift Australia’s ban on nuclear power.

On youth-focused Tiktok, the ads were more focused on motivational explainer videos by Shackel, memes, and recently promotions for a pro-nuclear tour by 22-year-old nuclear engineer and former Miss America, Grace Stanke, also funded by Smith.

“In this election year, it’s clear the opponents of renewable energy will peddle the fantasy that nuclear energy is a viable climate solution for Australia. Nuclear power is too expensive, too slow and too much of a risk,” said Comms Declare founder Belinda Noble.

The ramp in advertising dollar spend by this group mirrors other campaigns, such as the Minerals Council of Australia which launched its own in August last year. 

During January it ramped advertising spending by 33 per cent to $9,937 on its Get Clear on Nuclear campaign, which run on Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok.

That campaign was designed by New Zealand ad agency Topham Guerin, which worked with Australia’s Liberal Party and the the UK’s Conservative Party in their election-winning 2019 year.

Founding partner Ben Geurin described their 2019 UK election strategy as “water dripping on a stone”.

Earlier in 2024, pro-renewables group the Clean Energy Council began running its own nuclear ad campaign. It was trying to convey, via billboard advertising over two weeks, that “Nuclear is a distraction”, and “Don’t risk Australia’s Future.”

Clean Energy Finance director Tim Buckley says pro-nuclear campaigners are winning the marketing fight.

“Are they winning? Yes. Because what are you and I taking about right now? [Nationals MP] Ted O’Brien’s brain fart,” he told Renew Economy.

“It’s been very effective. It’s fact free politics. As an analyst I find it impossible to push back on it. The trouble is it’s got serious traction and they’re using their social media platforms to say ‘why can’t we talk about it?’ And they’re conflating nuclear mining with nuclear power plants, and they’re conflating [nuclear powered] defense with energy.”