Commercial Production Prepares to Embrace Sustainability

Dramatically changing something as rigidly entrenched as commercial production would have seemed impossible just two years ago. But then Covid-19 lockdowns swept across the globe, forcing marketers to alter everything about how they shoot and produce ads. Now, with production processes no longer carved in stone, sustainability advocates within the industry see an opportunity to end one of the most traditionally inescapable aspects of shooting ads: the tremendous wastefulness. Green the Bid, a movement aimed at getting brands, agencies and set crews to commit to sustainable production, launched in 2020 as the ad world was learning that remote production—which generates far fewer emissions than flying teams to a physical location—was more effective than many had assumed in the past. But the clock could be ticking on this era of adaptation, with many happy to revert back to pre-pandemic ways of doing things. "Most people say they just can't wait to get back to normal," said Julian Katz, a production strategist at Facebook and co-founder of Green the Bid. "We've all been on remote productions, and we've all seen it works really well." In addition to reducing air travel, the group hopes to get clients, agencies and producers to pledge support for sustainable practices like avoiding plastic foam products such as Styrofoam, offering organic food options, using low-energy lighting, recycling batteries, only using generators when necessary and turning off trucks rather than idling them. "There's no risk to doing it. There's only reward," said Kat Friis, a Facebook Creative X producer and one of Green the Bid's co-founders. "People should just jump right in; they don't need to dip their toes in the water." Why clients must drive sustainability Getting brands on board is Green the Bid's top priority because clients approve the budgets that agencies and production crews are held to. Sustainable practices only add one or two percentage points to a budget, the group's co-founders say, but the tight margins of production can make it tough to cover those costs without client support. Facebook was quick to join the pledge, launched by several of its own employees. Another brand already on board is Ford Motor Co., which has set a goal of being carbon-neutral by 2050. "I do think change is so much quicker when it comes from the top down," said Laura Busino, Ford's head of content production. "We have six ad agencies, so we immediately have six agencies who could carry this over to all the production companies." Busino said she's enjoyed collaborating with Green the Bid's organizers and that the changes they're championing are relatively easy to implement. "I just don't see any reason not to do it," she said. "It's not harder; it's just different. It's just being a bit more thoughtful, and I hope we're all trying to be a bit more thoughtful these days." Who will stay home? While on-set composting and craft services tables free of palm oil are all eco-friendly, their benefits pale in comparison to reducing air travel. A round-trip flight from New York to Los Angeles generates about 1.5 metric tons of carbon dioxide per passenger, according to FlightFree.org. That's the emissions equivalent of driving a passenger car for four months. Freelance producer Ben Greenberg has been working in advertising for a decade. For most of that time, the heavy travel and wastefulness of production went largely unchallenged—until Covid-19 squashed travel. In recent months, production has been in a hybrid middle ground, with travel possible but not always encouraged. "The days of spending two weeks in L.A. for editorial because you're going to sit in the bay are gone," said Greenberg, who supports Green the Bid. "In the reset, there is a greener way. Sometimes evolution is forced, and this feels like something that's moving toward greener decisions for the industry." But convincing marketers to stay home post-pandemic might prove a tough sell. For now, there's an eagerness to get back to in-person production, and there's also the sensitivity of anyone feeling perceived as "nonessential." After the initial excitement about traveling again wears off, though, some are hopeful the lessons of lockdown will prevail. "It is going to be very hard to start asking creative and stakeholders at these companies not to go on these shoots," Ford's Busino said. "But once things settle down and we've seen each other a few times, it's going to be like, 'Remember how we didn't go and it still worked—and honestly was even faster?'"

Sustainability News

Commercial Production Finally Has a Path to Embracing Sustainability

The Green the Bid movement hopes to get clients, agencies and crews pledging to reduce their impact

David Griner

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David Griner