The world’s biggest ad agencies undermine climate action. Questions you should ask yours

If your company uses one of the world’s largest advertising agencies to tout its emissions reductions or promote breakthroughs in climate tech and clean energy, it’s time to ask questions about their client lists.

The biggest names in the industry — Dentsu, Edelman, Havas, Interpublic Group, Omnicom, Publicis and WPP — earn billions of dollars creating campaigns for companies that deliberately obstruct regulations and policies that support a transition to clean energy, according to two separate investigations published this fall.

At the same time, several are touting their work for “green” corporations that have committed to support emissions reductions required by the Paris Agreement.

Conflict of interest

WPP, for example, represents long-time client American Petroleum Institute even though it has created a detailed policy that includes a pledge not to take on work that could “frustrate” the goals of the Paris agreement, according to nonprofit think tank InfluenceMap. API opposed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s August 2023 rule to cut emissions from coal and gas plants, while another WPP client, PayPal, advocated its adoption.

InfluenceMap’s 28-page analysis, based on publicly available information, is replete with similar conflicts of interest. 

“It is critically important that agencies understand how exposure to obstructive clients calls into question the authenticity of their own climate commitments and how the work done for them ties into harmful lobbying agendas,” said Faye Holder, head of special projects at InfluenceMap. 

The six companies studied in the report did not respond to requests for comment.

Leading ad agencies and public relations firms have signed close to 700 new contracts with fossil fuels companies including BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies, finds the 2024 edition of the “F-List” by advocacy group Clean Creatives. The organization defines fossil fuels organizations as those in the primary business of oil, coal or gas exploration, utilities and electric cooperatives with more than 50 percent of their generation from fossil fuels, and lobbying organizations that represent those interests. 

The Clean Creatives research covers close to 590 agencies. WPP was the agency with the most fossil fuels-related contracts (79), followed by Omnicom (74), Interpublic Group (50), Publicis (40), Havas (19), Dentsu (18), Edelman (11) and Stagwell (7).

Agencies often share best practices for engagement across their client portfolios, so it’s possible that strategies that have worked to reach consumers interested in climate change issues could be used by fossil fuels companies to share misinformation, said Duncan Meisel, executive director of Clean Creatives. “We try to highlight those moments when brands are not having their interests served,” he said. 

On a brighter note, 104 contracts reported in the 2023 edition of the F-List were discontinued. Independent agencies are ending their fossil fuels-related work more quickly than big holding companies, the research found. More than 1,250 agencies have signed the Clean Creatives pledge stating that they won’t take on any new fossil fuels-related contracts.    

Wake-up call for brands with net-zero goals

All this begs the question: How much revenue does your company’s advertising and public relations partners make from supporting campaigns for oil and gas companies?

Of course, those numbers aren’t hard to come by and not made public, for the most part, but potential client companies are increasingly doing their homework. 

Patagonia doesn’t work with many outside communications or advertising agencies, but has long-standing contracts with partners that share its corporate principles. It is strongly opposed to fossil fuels expansion, especially on federal land, and doesn’t work with firms that don’t share that ethos. 

“Those relationships, built on trust and transparency, wouldn’t be successful if our partners were also doing work that undermines our purpose of being in business to save the planet,” said Gin Ando, a Patagonia spokesperson.

Seventh Generation began studying its 40 biggest agencies three years ago in preparation for its 2022 Climate Fingerprints report. It used the Clean Creatives pledge to create a survey for the companies that handle its marketing, public relations and advertising campaigns. Among the questions:

• Does your firm represent clients in the fossil fuels industry?
• What percentage of your firm’s revenue comes from fossil fuels companies?
• What policies does your firm have in place to screen clients for their commitment to the Paris Agreement?
• Has your firm set emissions reduction targets? If so, what is that strategy?
• Does your firm prioritize industries or brands that are supportive of the clean energy transition?

Not all of the companies responded and some skipped questions, said Kate Ogden, head of advocacy and movement building at Seventh Generation. Overall, the company’s qualitative analysis revealed that these partners were underperforming when it came to client disclosure and few have science-based commitments for addressing climate change. Few had “guardrails” for limiting revenue from the fossil fuels industry.

Seventh Generation worked closely with its marketing team to compare that information with PR and campaign spending to understand the impact, Ogden said. It hasn’t fired any partners, but will use these questions to evaluate new relationships and guide contract renewals.

 “Getting the agency to change, that is where the greatest impact lies,” she said. 

Review your PR, marketing and social media agencies

Asking creative partners to disclose emissions reductions policies and fossil fuels industry ties is a good first step to addressing an abundance of climate misinformation. “This is something that every brand should be doing, especially those concerned about the climate crisis or anything to do with sustainability,” said Jason Parkin, founder of Compose[d] Creative, a Clean Creatives signatory.

A September United Nations report about the role of service providers in the net-zero transition offers helpful guidance about what to ask and seek, said InfluenceMap’s Holder. “You need to stay engaged and have honest conversations,” she said.

Direct conversations with account managers are likely to be passed along to director-level contacts at agencies and can help fuel an interest in change, said Clean Creatives’ Meisel. “They aren’t great for morale,” he said.

Suggested best practices for brands:

• Develop messaging about your corporation’s climate and nature commitments that can be used by marketing teams in conversations with agencies.
• Create a list of questions that can be used as part of requests for proposals.
• Ask to review the agency’s climate commitments and ask for their position on fossil fuels clients. (The Clean Creatives Pledge list could be a good place to start.)
• Include information about things that your company considers to be conflicts of interest.
• Offer information about your company’s escalation strategy: If it won’t use firms that have fossil fuels clients, say so.

Since many brands have autonomy over their marketing budgets even if they’re part of a larger company — Seventh Generation is a subsidiary of Unilever — it should be relatively straightforward for other sustainability teams to perform this exercise, Ogden said. “It might be a lighter lift than you realize,” she said.

[Discover innovative solutions to advance your decarbonization goals along 3,000 sustainability professionals at GreenBiz 25, Feb. 10-12, Phoenix.]