Guerilla ads slamming Barclays sponsorship of Wimbledon have appeared close to the All England Lawn Tennis Club as this year’s Grand Slam tournament begins.
More than 300 commercial billboards, tube and bus shelter ads near the tournament have been replaced with artworks hitting out at the bank’s financial support for the arms trade to Isreal and ties to fossil fuels.
The guerilla campaign has been carried out by the campaign group Brandalism, a group which describes itself as an “anonymous art collective”, which is looking to put pressure on the tournament to end its ties with Barclays.
One poster shows a tennis player shaking a hand with a banker, above the slogan “Partners in climate crimes and genocide” while another shows a bleeding tennis player on the court beside a crater with the words “From Gaza to global warming, we’re making a killing”.
Kit Speedwell, Brandalism said: “Wimbledon’s cherished strawberries and cream image has been thoroughly sullied by its decision to partner with Barclays, the most toxic bank in Europe, while the bank continues to pour millions into the arms trade and fossil fuel companies driving climate chaos. Wimbledon must stop providing cover for Barclays’ grotesque lack of morals and immediately end the sponsorship deal.”
Subscribe to Sustainability Beat for free
Sign up here to get the latest sustainability news sent straight to your inbox everyday
Barclays is reported to be Europe’s biggest fossil fuel financier, having invested $235bn (£186bn) since 2016. A report by the Campaign Against Arms Trade alleged Barclays held around £2bn in shares in eight companies that provide weapons, components and other military equipment to Israel.
In response, the bank said it provided financial services to nine defence companies supplying Israel but did not “make investments for Barclays, and Barclays is not a ‘shareholder’ or ‘investor”.
It said it traded in shares of listed companies “in response to client instruction or demand and that may result in us holding shares”.
Barclays also told the Guardian: “We are proud of our partnership with Wimbledon. Like many other banks, we provide financial services to companies supplying defence products to the UK, Nato and its allies. We are also financing an energy sector in transition, including providing $1tn of sustainable and transition finance by 2030 to build a cleaner and more secure energy system.”
