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Emboldened by the poor previews, the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry trade group, plans to run ads in 75% of Pennsylvania’s movie theaters, encouraging audiences to get “straightforward facts” by visiting a website focused on shale gas. The state has seen its natural gas production quadruple thanks to horizontal drilling combined with hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus shale formation.

“It’s difficult to fact-check a work of fiction, so I don’t know if we’re going to be able to do that any more than we can fact-check ‘Batman,’” spokesman Steve Forde told the Associated Press. “But certainly shale gas development is generating discussion around dinner tables, it’s an important discussion to have, and that’s the angle we are looking at.”

Taken together, the industry campaigns — at Pennsylvania movie theaters, on a website and using social media –underscore efforts to combat negative perceptions about fracking.

This is strange, new territory for the oil and gas industry, which is more comfortable with the hard science of drilling rather than the creative art of moviemaking. But hammered by the environmental movement over the past few years, the industry is making a concerted effort to hit back.

This film is purely a work of fiction and is not reflective of the work our industry undertakes

Instead of direct attacks they are trying to paint Matt Damon’s movie as derivative, condescending and cliched.

“This film is purely a work of fiction and is not reflective of the work our industry undertakes, all done within an aggressive and effective regulatory framework,” critiques the Marcellus Shale Coalition in a statement that precedes a selection of bad reviews the movie garnered. “Our focus remains on creating even more American jobs, safely producing our abundant, clean-burning, domestic natural gas resources, revitalizing rural communities and our nation’s manufacturing base, and most importantly, doing it in a way that is safe. We live and raise our families in these communities, and have an unmatched commitment to protecting our air, water and environment.”