Extinction Rebellion brings protest in Cannes to Facebook's private beach
Following Wednesday's protest on the steps of the Palais at the Cannes Lions Festival that resulted in 14 arrests, environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion continued its demonstatration today at Facebook's private beach.
Extinction Rebellion continues protests at Facebook Beach / @ExtinctionR
Activists occupied Facebook's beachfront presence, continuing their call for the advertising industry to address climate change head-on.
"Organisers and police are making every effort to stop us from telling the truth to the ad business — so we’re doing it anyway, on #Facebook private beach," Extinction Rebellion said in a tweet.
According to Extinction Rebellion's Twitter account, there was at least one arrest.
Update: the person writing these updates has been taken by police - simply for taking pictures. Is this French law, or something else?
— Extinction Rebellion ⌛️❓⏳ (@ExtinctionR) June 20, 2019
The Drum met with members of the activist group earlier today to discuss it's presence at Cannes.
William Skeaping, a former creative strategist at ad agency McCann London and a prominent player within Extinction Rebellion, said in discussion with The Drum that the activist group had received a “very quaint response" from Cannes Lions brass following it's initial protest "asking us not to disrupt [the] business.”
Extinction Rebellion continued its demonstration because, as Skeaping said, "Cannes is not going to be here in a few years if we keep this up."
Neither Facebook nor Cannes Lions representatives have responded to The Drum's request for comment at the time of publishing.
Activists were seen protesting in the water, calling for onlookers to "Act Now," and were later seen being dragged away by police.