5 Times Activists Roasted Adland's Fossil Fuel Addiction

This year was officially the hottest ever recorded, thanks to humans' industrial-era obsession with burning fossil fuels. And despite a weak, loophole-riddled agreement to transition away from those climate-warming fuels at the United Nations' recent climate summit, the world is on track to see much more warming in the years to come. Meanwhile, despite a long history of mis- and disinformation from the oil and gas industry and a recent rollback of climate commitments, hundreds of agencies—including all of the largest ad agency holding companies—continue to work with fossil fuel brands to improve brand image, promote oil and gas products and push back against the narratives of climate activists around the world. Still, activists have broken through the noise on many occasions to highlight the hypocrisy of advertising and public relations agencies' relationships with fossil fuel companies. Using viral campaigns, cutting humor and well-positioned stunts, here are five times climate activists roasted the ad industry for its work with fossil fuel brands: 1.) Atmospheric Agency satirically defends business as usual—and McCann Activists from Glimpse, the activist agency behind Atmospheric, dropped off cupcakes at McCann's London office. With a splashy introduction on LinkedIn, complete with a fake CEO and company website, the Atmospheric Agency has been trolling adland since shortly after DeSmog reported that Aramco had put its ad accounts up for review and that McCann was pitching to defend the business. Glimpse, one of the climate-focused agencies behind the stunt, stopped by the McCann office in London with cupcakes to wish the agency luck with its pitch. "We delivered some sugary cupcakes to McCann in the hope they’ll look up from their desks and wonder if it’s really a good idea to pitch for the biggest oil company on earth," James Turner, founder of Glimpse, said in a statement. "If these agencies want to be taken seriously on climate change they’ve got to ditch the fossil fuel clients. You can’t have your cupcake and eat it." McCann didn't respond to Adweek's request for comment. 2.) Clean Creatives' oil-themed ice cream truck at SXSW In partnership with Ben & Jerry's, Clean Creatives gave away greenwashing-themed ice cream at SXSW 2023 in March. With flavors like Shell's Half-Baked Net Zero Claims, Chevron's Climate Catastrophe Crunch and Aramco's Wow, That's Dark Chocolate, Clean Creatives' ice cream truck at SXSW, in partnership with Ben & Jerry's, called out the advertising agencies that work with each of the oil companies. “We wanted to reach people we haven’t had a chance to speak to in the creative industry in a way that was approachable and informative,” Duncan Meisel, executive director at Clean Creatives, told Adweek at the time. “Hopefully [we] gave them some information they hadn’t thought about before about fossil fuel polluters and the way that they are impacting the planet.” 3.) Creatives for Climate goes after greenwashers at Cannes and COP28 Marching along La Croisette in bright green suits, Creatives for Climate challenged marketers at Cannes on their knowledge of greenwashing. Armed with swatches that describe six common types of greenwashing, Creatives for Climate brought anti-greenwashing agents to the Cannes Lions festival and UN's global climate summit in 2023. In addition to sharing the swatches as a greenwashing education tool, agents also engaged with attendees on the impact of their work. "Our ambition to remove [fossil fuel brands'] social license relies on tactics that undermine the credibility, but also, in particular, the ‘cool’ of agencies that represent fossil fuels. If you become the butt of a joke, that's not a place you want to be," Lucy von Sturmer, initiator and chair of Creatives for Climate, told Adweek. "Creative activists are looking to use the tactics of the industry on itself, and you'll probably be seeing more and more of that.” Elsewhere along La Croisette at Cannes, Clean Creatives held a huge sign above Edelman CEO Richard Edelman's head—pointing out, simply, that "this person works with fossil fuel clients." 4.) Extinction Rebellion hosts a 'die-in' at Havas following Shell account win Known for their disruptive climate protests, Extinction Rebellion targeted Havas London after the agency won Shell's media business. In September, Adweek broke the news that Havas had won the long-awaited Shell media account. Shortly afterward, activists from Extinction Rebellion—who'd been protesting at all agencies rumored to be pitching for the account for weeks—hosted a "die-in" at Havas' London office. "Without the skill and creativity of agencies like Havas, Shell and the other fossil fuel companies driving the accelerating climate crisis with their supplies of oil, gas and coal would be revealed for what they really are—criminals who are destroying our future," Katie Burrell, an activist who took part in the action, said in a statement. Havas didn't respond to Adweek's request for comment on Extinction Rebellion's action, but told Adweek at the time of the Shell account win that its "mission is to make a meaningful difference to brands, businesses and people. We believe the ability to enact change comes most effectively from within. This is why we are invested in supporting all companies in their communications provided that they are actively engaged in a transformation journey." 5.) The F-List branches out, with regional reports and a special COP28 edition Using smoke-covered New York City as the backdrop, Clean Creatives called out agencies with Big Oil clients with posters during Climate Week NYC. Clean Creatives has been publishing its annual F-List since 2021, highlighting the contracts that ad agencies have with fossil fuel clients—connections that many of the firms work to keep under wraps. This year, the activist group published regional reports for Asia and South Africa in addition to its main report, as well as a special COP28 edition that listed all the PR and ad agencies working with the United Arab Emirates COP28 presidency, which was led by the CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. "What made the F-list more impactful for us this year was the background of more general climate disruption. The posters we had in New York had pictures of the smoke from wildfires caused by climate change," Meisel told Adweek. "[That] made it unavoidable." But while the F-List grew this year, so did the list of agencies refusing to work with fossil fuel clients. Over 400 agencies signed the Clean Creatives pledge in 2023—including bigger agencies like Allison PR and Gale—bringing the total number to over 900, Meisel said during the group's end-of-year call.

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Kathryn Lundstrom

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Kathryn Lundstrom