Duncan Meisel Helps Advertisers Cut Ties With Fossil Fuel Clients

Duncan Meisel is helping solve a problem that has an ominous deadline. With climate change experts stating that carbon emissions must fall by roughly half by 2030 to avoid irreversible climate impacts, Meisel’s Clean Creatives campaign is trying to avoid dire consequences for the Earth. “We have to fix this in the next few years, or else we don't have a chance to fix all the other things we care about,” said Meisel—one of Adweek's 2023 Sustainability Honorees—adding that, while he could have done other things with his life, being a climate advocate is the option that has the biggest ticking clock attached. Clean Creatives began in 2020, founded by Meisel (who also serves as executive director) and Jamie Henn as a movement of advertisers, PR professionals and their clients that aims to cut the industry's ties with fossil fuels. Since that time, the group has been a source for change in the industry by calling attention to not only the environmental importance of cutting fossil fuels, but also the business advantages of doing so. “There's a real risk that if you are banking on the [oil] industry to prop up 10-20% of your bottom line, when their advertising budgets go away because they're not selling as much oil as they used to, you're going to have a problem,” said Meisel. This Group Wants Agencies to Stop Working With Fossil Fuel Clients Clean Creatives has already made a difference. It called out PR firm Edelman when the agency claimed it was eliminating climate-harming clients but kept working with oil giants, and the campaign continues to sign creatives, agencies and celebrities to its pledge to end work with fossil fuel companies and trade organizations. The organization started by figuring out who made advertisements for the American Petroleum Institute during the 2020 election, and found the company in Meisel’s own backyard: Austin, Texas. The group guessed that most young creatives probably don’t want to be working with agencies that promote fossil fuels, just like they didn’t with Big Tobacco. There's a real risk that if you are banking on the [oil] industry to prop up 10-20% of your bottom line, when their advertising budgets go away because they're not selling as much oil as they used to, you're going to have a problem.Duncan Meisel, executive director and co-founder, Clean Creatives Thus, the pledge was born. The aim is to pull the best creatives away from agencies working with heavy emitters—starving the fossil fuel industry of the world's top advertising and PR talent. Meisel, who has a history of activism with climate movement organization 350.org and several political campaigns, remembers the first agency to sign: Mightybytes in Chicago. After landing the agency, Clean Creatives did a lot of cold outreach to agencies that were already B Corps and those that did work in the climate space. The campaign also calls out firms with recent or ongoing fossil fuel relationships in an annually updated list found on Clean Creatives' website. An ongoing journey According to Meisel, it's important to look at sustainability as a series of steps to avoid greenwashing and make real change. He expects 2023 will be a pivotal year for the movement since the conversation has been live and active for several years. “Every time an agency head comes out and talks about their work on sustainability, they're getting this question about fossil fuel clients. And it's very hard to pretend that this isn't happening anymore,” said Meisel. He thinks that the holding companies and networks like WPP, IPG and Dentsu having chief sustainability officers and specialists on staff is a huge step in the right direction, and it’s Clean Creatives' job to support them and push forward. “We want to be partners with the companies that are making change. We want to work with the smart creators in this industry who are incredible at what they do and help them lead," said Meisel. "Our goal is to get them to change. I want them to do the right thing." This story is part of Adweek’s The State of Sustainability digital package, which spotlights climate-focused marketing solutions across the beauty, experiential and media spaces, and examines how an industry that was built to drive consumption is adapting to reduce its impact. Adweek’s 2023 Sustainability Honorees Are Setting Advertising’s Climate Agenda