| Dear Supporter,
What a week! We've been amazed by you – our supporters, dismayed by the Financial Times and of course outraged by Shell.
Thanks to your generosity and commitment to the people of the Niger Delta, we were able to realise our ambition of booking a full page ad in the Financial Times on the day of Shell's AGM. Then at 4:58pm the night before, the FT decided to pull the plug on the ad. It seemed like devastating news, but with so much at stake we couldn't despair. We had to find a way to make sure that shareholders still saw the message.
We already had the Evening Standard on board and at the last minute we were able to place the ad in the Metro – a paper we knew shareholders would pick up on the way to the meeting. And if they didn't see the papers, they couldn't have missed the van outside the AGM (thanks to Steve who spent 12 long hours driving around London's financial district!). It was great to see the campaign hitting the streets and making an impact.
This was your campaign – you made it all possible, and we completely understand if you're feeling disappointed about the FT's refusal to print the ad. It was a controversial decision – and one that led to more publicity for the ad and more people talking about Shell's operations in the Niger Delta than we could ever have planned or imagined. So you certainly gave Shell's shareholders something to think about.
We will not give up until Shell cleans up its act and the people of the Niger Delta have their rights respected. We'll keep you updated.
Thank you. Thank you. And thank you again for supporting this campaign.
Yours sincerely,
Naomi McAuliffe
Campaign Manager – Poverty & Human Rights |
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