Case Study

State-Based Festival and Mining Company

There are claims that the sponsorship of arts and cultural programs by oil and gas companies is an attempt to increase acceptance in the community. The practice has been compared to ‘sportswashing’ by tobacco companies, and had been labelled ‘artwashing’.

A state-based festival and a mining company began a partnership where the mining company supported artist-led digital initiatives of the festival. In return, they received a range of benefits including the naming rights to the festival hub. 

Artists and stakeholders protested the partnership for years. Their sentiment peaked when artists and producers perceived that their rights had been compromised by a clause in performance contracts that prevented them from criticising any of the festival’s sponsors.

The protest movement stated that by accepting the sponsorship, the festival was not just promoting its brand but its actions, which were perceived as destructive to the environment.

This case study highlights the need not only to establish a sponsorship policy to guide decision-making, but the importance of reviewing the risk assessment upon each contract renewal as public opinion or that of stakeholders will change in response to current external issues. The management of negative stakeholder responses to partnerships requires public relations expertise.