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Dark PR: How Corporate Disinformation Undermines Our Health and the Environment
“Think global, act local!” “Be the change you want to see in the world!” “Every little bit counts!” We can all get on board with such sentiments, right? That, of course, is exactly what corporate spin-masters across the world are banking on. By weaponizing such seemingly innocuous yet powerful narratives, change becomes a matter of personal choice, something each of us must slave away at day by day: switching off lightbulbs to save the environment or exercising to shed the weight we’ve gained from consuming junk food. All the while, the corporate welfare tap continues to flow, with over $6 trillion worth of annual subsidies dished out to industries that directly contribute to the deaths of over 5.5 million people each year through diabetes, road deaths, global warming, and other crises. But such framing is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the corporate disinformation playbook. This playbook is the dark matter of activist work: the unseeable element shaping harmful spin across all issues. It has never been reverse engineered – until now.
In Dark PR, Grant Ennis – drawing on his decades of experience working in the environmental, philanthropy, and public health sectors – reveals exactly how multinationals go about hoodwinking and manipulating us. In doing so, he lifts the lid on the nine devious frames contained within the cross-industry corporate disinformation playbook: through denialism, normalization, victim-blaming, multifactorialism, and a variety of other tried-and-tested tactics, corporations divert citizens’ attention away from the real causes of global problems, leading them into counter-productive blind-alley “solutions” like ethical consumerism and divestment. Sadly, though, buying Fair Trade chocolate has not and never will save the world. Only by collectively organizing to lobby our governments can we break this destructive cycle of lies and deadly incentives, and reclaim control of our lives.
In Dark PR, Grant Ennis – drawing on his decades of experience working in the environmental, philanthropy, and public health sectors – reveals exactly how multinationals go about hoodwinking and manipulating us. In doing so, he lifts the lid on the nine devious frames contained within the cross-industry corporate disinformation playbook: through denialism, normalization, victim-blaming, multifactorialism, and a variety of other tried-and-tested tactics, corporations divert citizens’ attention away from the real causes of global problems, leading them into counter-productive blind-alley “solutions” like ethical consumerism and divestment. Sadly, though, buying Fair Trade chocolate has not and never will save the world. Only by collectively organizing to lobby our governments can we break this destructive cycle of lies and deadly incentives, and reclaim control of our lives.
- GenresNonfictionUrbanism
243 pages, Paperback
Published March 1, 2023
3 people are currently reading
530 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
December 31, 2023
I asked the ICPL to purchase this book and they denied my request so I gladly purchased the book and want to loan it to everyone I know. The author examines the industries which contribute to diabetes, road deaths, and global warming, which while seemingly different, underscore how the discursive practices by ostensibly different industries share common design. It is tempting to want to blame CEOs but this will get us nowhere. Instead we need to eliminate the political structures that incentivize( subsidize) these bad apples to misbehave. Conservative estimates find 5 million people are killed annually by the combined injustices of overweight and diabetes, road crashes, and global warming. At the same time kickbacks to these industries causing these catastrophes cost governments (and their citizens) over 6 trillion in annual subsidies. When we doubt that problems are problems we then do not pursue solutions. Individual-focused solutions are a false salve and emphasizing them harms political will for real, broad-based change.
Road engineers know that wider roads encourage both higher speeds and create longer pedestrian crossing distances which result in more deaths. No amount of post-crash care will solve the road death pandemic. Greg Shill, University of Iowa, discusses the rebound effect. My daughter would disagree with the author on the false magic of CCS. But I do want her and her colleagues to all read this book.
What can we do?
Trust: citizens gain trust in one another through regular interaction
Groups: citizens who trust one another form autonomous, member-led self-funded groups
Coalitions: groups join with other groups to form coalitions
Alliances: coalitions join with other coalitions to form alliances
Movements: alliances join with other alliances to form movements
Targeted political demands: movements demand specific political change
Political will: movements create enough political will to achieve meaningful change
Looks like we need to form groups, which join coalitions which join alliances which join movements to target political demands through political will. We are much less effective if we remain individuals and “just vote” or “just protest.” The sprawl lobby has achieved and profited from a lower density, single-use-zoned world that has, likely inadvertently, eroded citizen advocacy by spreading people out. To end trillions in subsidies that we are already paying to kill ourselves and our planet, we need to organize strategically, deliberately, and demand political change.
Road engineers know that wider roads encourage both higher speeds and create longer pedestrian crossing distances which result in more deaths. No amount of post-crash care will solve the road death pandemic. Greg Shill, University of Iowa, discusses the rebound effect. My daughter would disagree with the author on the false magic of CCS. But I do want her and her colleagues to all read this book.
What can we do?
Trust: citizens gain trust in one another through regular interaction
Groups: citizens who trust one another form autonomous, member-led self-funded groups
Coalitions: groups join with other groups to form coalitions
Alliances: coalitions join with other coalitions to form alliances
Movements: alliances join with other alliances to form movements
Targeted political demands: movements demand specific political change
Political will: movements create enough political will to achieve meaningful change
Looks like we need to form groups, which join coalitions which join alliances which join movements to target political demands through political will. We are much less effective if we remain individuals and “just vote” or “just protest.” The sprawl lobby has achieved and profited from a lower density, single-use-zoned world that has, likely inadvertently, eroded citizen advocacy by spreading people out. To end trillions in subsidies that we are already paying to kill ourselves and our planet, we need to organize strategically, deliberately, and demand political change.
August 7, 2023
This book was a rollercoaster. It initially made me question all my long-held beliefs. It slowly sunk in that we have all been conned. And eventually I realised that the solutions to the world’s gravest problems are quite simple. Grant has broken this down concisely and in an easy-to-read format.
An important book that I hope everyone reads. And hopefully be inspired to take action.
An important book that I hope everyone reads. And hopefully be inspired to take action.
March 13, 2025
If I could recommend one book this week to everyone, it would be this. Clearly written, not too long, and actionable points. Sometimes the graphics are illegible or don't make sense to me, but the thesis and evidence is sound.
It echoes what I have said in my own public health career - the solutions are not hard, the solutions are not individual, it is always, ALWAYS, a lack of political will.
I read this after hearing an interview with Grant Ennis on the podcast, The War on Cars. https://thewaroncars.org/2023/10/24/1...
It echoes what I have said in my own public health career - the solutions are not hard, the solutions are not individual, it is always, ALWAYS, a lack of political will.
I read this after hearing an interview with Grant Ennis on the podcast, The War on Cars. https://thewaroncars.org/2023/10/24/1...
January 29, 2024
Five stars because of the ideas in the book that changed the way I see everything, not necessarily because it was a perfect book. I felt like I was in the weeds a bit here and there. But overall it was very readable, extremely convincing, fascinating, and at times mind blowing. I’ve been reading a lot of depressing books about all the unfair political structures of the world, and this is the first book that gave me any REAL hope that we (people/citizens) can fight back in any meaningful way.
November 14, 2023
This book will leave you angry, but in a good way.
January 23, 2026
DNF @80%. This could have been an article. An actor commented recently about how Netflix has changed how scripts are written for the second-screen era so that plot points are restated quite obviously 3+ times so people get it and this book also felt like that. I get the desire to drive home point but after a certain point it's like okay let's keep moving on. I agree with the book and what the author presents on a fundamental level but disagree with a lot of stuff on a philosophical level. I feel like tying in the desire to de-subsidize with discussing the PR frames weakened the book, would have preferred if the book focused on one instead, but that would have likely further reduced how many pages this ought to have been.
January 23, 2023
I can only wish for this book to reach out to as many readers as possible, on this book Grant manages to untangle the intangible. Although grim and challenging Grant manages to provide a thorough recommendation on how to address not only discussed topics covered in his book but also most of the most pressing today's world problems.
March 5, 2024
A sharply focused exposition of corporate PR 'framing' and how best to counter it. Well researched and pulls no punches in demonstrating how well-intentioned individual efforts are often irrelevant or misguided. This book needs a wider audience than it's probably going to get, but hopefully its ideas will spread far and wide.
December 28, 2022
Cannot recommend enough! I have read and re-read this book and it is absolutely fantastic. I am constantly talking about it with those around me and am so grateful to have read it.
August 21, 2025
5/5 existential crises.
February 25, 2024
Brilliant, challenging, novel and ultimately really empowering book. I've studied it as it's so dense with important content. Highly recommend
June 12, 2023
As Stevo’s Novel Ideas, I am a long-time book reviewer, member of the media, an Influencer, and a content provider. I received this book as a free review copy from either the publisher, a publicist, or the author, and have not been otherwise compensated for reviewing or recommending it. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
This book is Stevo's Business Book of the Week for the week of 6/11. Grant Ennis – drawing on his decades of experience working in the environmental, philanthropy, and public health sectors – reveals exactly how multinationals go about hoodwinking and manipulating us.
As we reel from one global health crisis to another, we see multinational corporations putting on their "good guy" hats by contributing to initiatives that treat the health issues they cause, instead of more expensive preventive measures that would more deeply cut into their profits.
An example is Australia's Non-alcoholic Beverage Industry's Sugar Reduction Pledge, which called for a 20% reduction in sugar content by 2025. This target, health officials say, still leaves sugar at a dangerously high level. Instead of efforts to stop consumers from drinking sugary drinks entirely, such as taxing the drinks, the drink producers are increasingly spending money to pay lobbyists to persuade governments to give them more tax breaks that help lower the costs of their drinks.
Governmental subsidies to multinational corporations incentivize public relations campaigns that harm our health and the environment, says Grant Ennis in his new book, "Dark PR." Ennis's premise is that these subsidies, primarily those that fund encroachment on the natural habitats of plants and animals (i.e. industrial logging and animal farming), "contribute to the underlying conditions that generate pandemics." The goal of "Dark PR" is to expose and reverse engineer the playbook used by Dark PR campaigns to empower those fighting back.
At the center of the "Bad PR" are nine sophisticated structures (Ennis calls them "frames) that are deployed by companies and governments to distract us and skew the debate away from the fact that subsidies favor corporate profit over human and environmental wellbeing. These frames include pseudo-solutions, attempts to thwart organized activism, and use of the Big Lie (global problems are good for us!) Enough Dark PR, and we forget we have problems that threaten our lives.
How can we fight back? Ennis calls for greater organization (both top-down and bottom-up) and a focus on specific issues with achievable outcomes. First on the list is reducing funding for Dark PR campaigns.
While specific information on countering Dark PR efforts is a bit scarce, this is an engaging read that will get you fired-up.
Find more Business Books of the Week on my Goodreads Listopia page at https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9..., and find many more reviewed and recommended books and products by searching for me on Google.
This book is Stevo's Business Book of the Week for the week of 6/11. Grant Ennis – drawing on his decades of experience working in the environmental, philanthropy, and public health sectors – reveals exactly how multinationals go about hoodwinking and manipulating us.
As we reel from one global health crisis to another, we see multinational corporations putting on their "good guy" hats by contributing to initiatives that treat the health issues they cause, instead of more expensive preventive measures that would more deeply cut into their profits.
An example is Australia's Non-alcoholic Beverage Industry's Sugar Reduction Pledge, which called for a 20% reduction in sugar content by 2025. This target, health officials say, still leaves sugar at a dangerously high level. Instead of efforts to stop consumers from drinking sugary drinks entirely, such as taxing the drinks, the drink producers are increasingly spending money to pay lobbyists to persuade governments to give them more tax breaks that help lower the costs of their drinks.
Governmental subsidies to multinational corporations incentivize public relations campaigns that harm our health and the environment, says Grant Ennis in his new book, "Dark PR." Ennis's premise is that these subsidies, primarily those that fund encroachment on the natural habitats of plants and animals (i.e. industrial logging and animal farming), "contribute to the underlying conditions that generate pandemics." The goal of "Dark PR" is to expose and reverse engineer the playbook used by Dark PR campaigns to empower those fighting back.
At the center of the "Bad PR" are nine sophisticated structures (Ennis calls them "frames) that are deployed by companies and governments to distract us and skew the debate away from the fact that subsidies favor corporate profit over human and environmental wellbeing. These frames include pseudo-solutions, attempts to thwart organized activism, and use of the Big Lie (global problems are good for us!) Enough Dark PR, and we forget we have problems that threaten our lives.
How can we fight back? Ennis calls for greater organization (both top-down and bottom-up) and a focus on specific issues with achievable outcomes. First on the list is reducing funding for Dark PR campaigns.
While specific information on countering Dark PR efforts is a bit scarce, this is an engaging read that will get you fired-up.
Find more Business Books of the Week on my Goodreads Listopia page at https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9..., and find many more reviewed and recommended books and products by searching for me on Google.
August 23, 2023
This book has changed the way I think about citizen advocacy, political organising, and how to bring about policy change.
May 19, 2023
Is going vegan or driving an electric car the best thing you can do to mitigate climate change? How about voting out climate deniers? According to author Grant Ennis they are not. But, he says, there is a single best thing you can do to help tackle climate change.
In his book, Dark PR, Ennis starts by outlining some of the industry and government tactics which misdirect citizen efforts. Some are obvious like outright denialism or even arguing that climate change is good for you. But there are many other tactics which are not so obvious.
Although I have picked on climate change, Ennis also provides case studies from the healthcare and auto industries.
I won't spoil the conclusion but I can say that Grant Ennis has done us a huge favor by telling us the sorts of things we can do to fight corporate disinformation effectively.
I highly recommend this book to make you think more critically about some things you currently take for granted.
My full review here: https://courtofthegrandchildren.com/t...
In his book, Dark PR, Ennis starts by outlining some of the industry and government tactics which misdirect citizen efforts. Some are obvious like outright denialism or even arguing that climate change is good for you. But there are many other tactics which are not so obvious.
Although I have picked on climate change, Ennis also provides case studies from the healthcare and auto industries.
I won't spoil the conclusion but I can say that Grant Ennis has done us a huge favor by telling us the sorts of things we can do to fight corporate disinformation effectively.
I highly recommend this book to make you think more critically about some things you currently take for granted.
My full review here: https://courtofthegrandchildren.com/t...
May 4, 2025
Love the concept of this book and the way Grant wants to combat climate change, our obesity crises and road deaths is so simple yet so effective. This way of preventative thinking and outlining of misinformation should be taught more broadly in many scenarios
Would have love for Grant to touch on alternatives to banning highways/risks for this (e.g., more air travel? Slower transport of goods, less jobs ect)
Some small pieces of information I questions however overall I really loved this book!
Would have love for Grant to touch on alternatives to banning highways/risks for this (e.g., more air travel? Slower transport of goods, less jobs ect)
Some small pieces of information I questions however overall I really loved this book!
January 18, 2025
Probably my favorite book of 2024. I keep talking about it to everyone who will listen - it really changed the way I think about activism, public policy and individual vs collective responsibility. Check out the interview with Ennis on The War on Cars podcast if you want an overview, but either way YOU SHOULD READ THIS!!
January 30, 2024
This is an extraordinary book. Totally changed my thinking about how best to effect change, and absolved me of a lot of guilt that had been manufactured by Dark PR. Well worth the read, though you might need to put it down occasionally to scream into the void, because it will make you very angry!
April 1, 2025
Great Information that we all should be aware of, now that everything is set up for individualism, Dark PR is a reminder that to achieve results we have to step out of it and work as a structured society.
March 29, 2024
Didn't necessarily agree with everything in this book, but it raised a lot of good points. Worth reading.
February 5, 2025
Freak books interspersed with capstone books are all I read now
August 21, 2025
I am this petty I need this for my reading goal
August 27, 2024
This is a very detailed description of many of the public discussions and debates on current important issues; your eyes are opened to the toddler-like innocence of many well-meaning campaigners against the careful strategies of 'it's complicated' distraction and victim blaming and misleading themes, that are presented in public debate by large vested interest organisations.
Do not be cynical, but do grow up about communication strategies planned to mislead and distract. A really excellent and comprehensive book about the PR used to channel debates away from more forceful government and consumer group actions.
Clear and well written; well done expert author Grant Ennis
Do not be cynical, but do grow up about communication strategies planned to mislead and distract. A really excellent and comprehensive book about the PR used to channel debates away from more forceful government and consumer group actions.
Clear and well written; well done expert author Grant Ennis
July 11, 2024
This started out quite strong, with a clear message and verifiable research to back up the claims. The author also does a good job of constructing frameworks to analyze the types of BS that corporations engage in to reap profits and undermine public health. However, the book gets quite repetitive as it goes on, and takes a sudden turn at the end to call for citizen action against governments (calling action targeted at corporations something of a distraction). While there are solid points here (that systemic change is needed and multi-factorial approaches are diffusing political will), the fact that the author veers towards zero-sum thinking leaves a bad taste in one's mouth.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews