BREAKING: Today 71 professionals under 30, junior executives, and students in the advertising and PR industry released an open letter calling for advertising and PR executives to end contracts with fossil fuel companies.
Today we’re releasing the F-List 2021 — 90 agencies that are working with the fossil fuel industry.
We compiled this list with our friends in Australia,
@commsdeclare
. It’s the most comprehensive list of agencies working for big polluters. Ever.
Here's who's on it.
🧵:
Today we’re releasing the F-List 2022: a list of 230+ ad and PR agencies helping fossil fuel companies greenwash, mislead, and obstruct climate action.
If you work in our industry, you deserve to know the facts about the agencies working for polluters. A🧵
FACT CHECK: Exxon's CEO just said the International Energy Agency says the world will continue relying on fossil fuels.
That is false.
Earlier this year, the IEA said: "There is no need for investment in new fossil fuel supply in our net zero pathway."
Update! This letter is growing!
The number of young leaders co-signing the open letter calling for ad and PR executives to drop fossil fuel clients has more than doubled since it launched.
Over 150 leaders of tomorrow have signed on. Add your name here:
if an agency you know (or suspect) has a fossil fuel relationship tweets out ANYTHING about earth day tomorrow (Friday)….please let us know! we’ll send them a gift basket 😂😄
Yesterday we visited
@richardwedelman
on the Croisette in Cannes to share that
@EdelmanPR
still works with fossil fuel clients like Chevron, Aramco, Abu Dhabi National Oil and more.
He says he's happy to talk about it - so we thought everyone at
#CannesLions2023
should know.
👏👏Props to
@voxmedia
, because they "no longer accept ad dollars from fossil-fuel companies, or any companies that mine nonrenewable resources."👏👏
This is exactly the kind of change we're pushing for across the industry. Tag who should be next ⬇️
Today we are sharing a report that offers the most complete look yet at the connections between the PR and ad industry and fossil fuels.
These relationships are often secret, and bringing them into the light is the first step towards ending them.
Here are the major conclusions:
.
@Shell
is reviewing its global media account, currently with
@WPP
’s
@EssenceMediacom
. We’ve heard that a number of agencies have been asked to pitch. No one should take them up on the offer.
If you’re at an agency that might pitch for
#Shell
, we need your help. 🧵⬇️
It's shocking that
@EdelmanPR
won't discuss working w/the likes of
@Shell
,
@Chevron
,
@exxonmobil
& Saudi oil tsars at their well publicized
#CannesLions
panel 🏴☠️BUT WILL🏴☠️ congratulate Gen Z on advocating for change.
Watch
@tolmeia
hit them with the hard q's, & their reactions.
We just wanted to say thank you to the 239 young leaders in the ad and PR industry who have co-signed the open letter calling on agency executives to cut ties with fossil fuel companies, and front groups. You are the future of this industry, and we are grateful to stand with you.
Sometimes as a comms professional, you have to put out news you want people to ignore. The typical solution is to release it on a Friday afternoon.
So when Edelman puts out the results of their 60 day climate review on a Friday afternoon it says a lot about how proud they are.
We're hearing that
@EdelmanPR
, the world's largest PR firm, will be briefing their employees today on the client review they agreed to after
@cleancreatives
exposed they were still working with fossil fuel giants like ExxonMobil.
A quick 🧵 -->
.
@exxonmobil
knew with almost 100% certainty and accuracy how bad climate change would get over 50 years ago. And you should be enraged.
The lines in the graph are what ExxonMobil scientists predicted, and the red is how much the planet actually warmed. 🧵⤵️
Breaking news:
@RepRaulGrijalva
and
@RepKatiePorter
just notified
@FTIConsulting
they will be subpoenaed in an investigation into fossil fuel misinformation, unless FTI produces requested documents within a week.
See the letter and our response here:
ICYMI:
This week, two different congressional committees released never before seen documents from fossil fuel companies and their agencies.
If you work in advertising and PR, you need to know what's in this release - and the damage it may do.
A 🧵 of what they found:
Today a group of over 100 creators, educators, and advocates are sharing a joint statement to
@EdelmanPR
, telling them to drop the clients that are causing climate destruction.
#EdelmanDropExxon
is a powerful statement to the world's largest PR firm:
Today 22 leading environmental and climate justice organizations called on public relations and advertising agencies to stop working with the fossil fuel industry.
You can read the letter here:
But we want to share what we think it means for the future.
Today we are asking
@WavemakerGlobal
and
@WPP
to make better waves.
Their work for
@Chevron
misleads the public about the public health crisis caused by fossil fuels.
@YEARSofLIVING
made a new version of one of their ads to show how it happens:
.
@nytmedia
just published a deep look at the emerging shifts within the advertising industry as it relates to fossil fuels.
Agencies are saying no to fossil clients.
The future of creativity is clean, and visionary agencies are beginning to build it.
WELCOME to the 2022 F-List Awards! Today we’ll be honoring the best of the worst in fossil fuel advertising and PR.
Our host is
@RollieWilliams
of
@ClimateTown
, and he’ll be joined by presenters from advertising, PR, and climate action.
Tune in now:
You may know that
@Ogilvy
has
@bp_plc
as a major client.
But you may not know that their “Keep Advancing” campaign had to be entirely scrapped after
@Clientearth
filed a complaint with the the UK’s Dept. for International Trade over its greenwashing content.
Incredibly moving to see a previous winner of a Gold
@Cannes_Lions
personally return his award yesterday to send a message about fossil fuel advertising.
Thank you
@greenpeacefr
for speaking out. EU citizens can sign the initiative to
#BanFossilAds
here:
🚨BREAKING 🚨
Un de nos activistes s'est incrusté au Festival de Cannes de la pub pour dénoncer la complicité des agences de publicité qui collaborent avec des entreprises polluantes et contribuent à retarder l'action climatique.
#CannesLions
#CannesLions2022
#BanFossilAds
Let's start with
@WPP
.
They just released a new sustainability plan to cut their own emissions to net zero by 2030, but their agencies hold dozens of contracts with major polluters that plan to increase their emissions in that same timeframe.
.
@WunThompson
is working directly with
@Shell
, who was just reprimanded in the Netherlands for misleading campaigns that misrepresented their commitment to climate action and Net Zero.
Today along with
@UCSUSA
we are sharing a letter from 450+ scientific leaders who unequivocally insist advertising and PR agencies step away from fossil fuel clients.
Here is their case to the industry:
@RoKhanna
Key points to know:
- The investigation will use their full powers to call fossil fuel executives to testify about their use of front groups, misleading communications, and more.
- The investigation is modeled off of Congress’ investigations into Big Tobacco in the 1990s.
ICYMI: today's congressional hearing on oil company misinformation ended with the committee chair issuing subpoenas for documents about communication and PR practices.
This elevates the risk for agencies working with fossil fuel companies dramatically:
If your agency wouldn't take a tobacco client, they shouldn't take a fossil fuel client.
The most detailed analysis of pollution from fossil fuels ever performed shows it kills over 8 million people a year. That's more than smoking and malaria combined.
Fossil fuels are responsible for ‼️90%‼️ of global carbon pollution. Fossil fuels companies are why we are in a climate emergency.
Advertising and PR companies are helping them continue polluting. Here’s who’s doing the dirty work:
For years,
@ExxonMobil
has been advertising their 🦠algae fuel program🦠 to millions of consumers.
Now they're shutting it down ➡️without ever having sold a single drop of fuel made from algae.⬅️
Here’s the story of ads that never should’ve been made 🧵:
.
@WPP
even named “Increased reputational risk associated with working on environmentally detrimental client briefs and/or misrepresenting environmental claims.” as one of the principal future risks to their business.
We agree. Here's what that looks like in practice.
.
@WPP
has pledged to go to Net Zero. But they're also doing zero about their fossil fuel clients.
When WPP increases Big Oil's profits, they're increasing pollution too - wiping out the impact of their pledge.
It's time for WPP to do more than zero about fossil fuel clients:
Our friends over at
@ClimateTown
did an incredible in-depth video breaking down what you might not've noticed before: how large media organizations like
@nytimes
are taking big oil $$ and producing content disguised as editorial🔥
#brandedcontent
A Dutch court just ruled that Shell's plans for 'net zero' by 2050 are inadequate, and unjust because they don't actually cut emissions.
Ad and PR firms need to understand that net zero plans that don't cut emissions right away don't stand up to science:.
The industry needs more of ~this~
"Fossil fuels kill more people than smoking, so fossil fuels advertising should be restricted like tobacco ads are, campaigners say."
Government disclosures just revealed that
@DDBCanada
is working with Alberta’s pro-oil propaganda arm to promote the world’s dirtiest oil - tar sands - to Americans.
Here's the story in
@vice
, but there's a LOT more going on here that you should know. 🧵:
.
@HKStrategies
has done PR for many of the biggest polluters blocking climate action, including:
@Shell
@ExxonMobil
@Chevron
The “Oil and Gas Climate Initiative”
America's Natural Gas Alliance
None of these clients have plans to meet the targets of the
#ParisAgreement
.
Shell's US CEO just bragged about their "Net Zero Ambition."
This is a perfect example of misleading communication. While saying this to Congress, Shell admits to investors that "Shell’s operating plans and budgets do not reflect Shell’s Net-Zero Emissions target.”
#SlipperySix
Fantastic op-ed from
@czakheim
, CEO of
@antenna_group
: "Why my agency won't serve as an AOR for oil companies"
Key quote: "Five years ago, representing Exxon would not have been controversial. Today, it is and should be."
Edelman has done more work for big oil and gas than any other agency on the planet. That has already had a real impact on their staff retention, and it will only become more pointed as the climate emergency caused by their clients grows.
I left
@EdelmanUK
because I was made to work on a project for
@ExxonMobil_EU
- I knew then that the values of the company couldn’t possibly align with my own. I hoped it had subsequently realised the toxicity of the fossil fuel lobby. Sadly this doesn’t seem to be the case.
Meanwhile,
@OgilvyPR
is repping Chevron’s
@CaltexAustralia
brand. While sky-darkening brushfires have become a regular occurrence in the past few years, they’re sending messages like this:
@Shell
@femalequotient
@tolmeia
Shell is a major violator of human rights.
Right now, Shell is being sued by 40,000 members of Ogoni and Bille tribes in Nigeria after Shell’s operations forever polluted their community's farms.
The majority of these farmers are women.
- Communications firms play a key role in the issues under investigation by the subcommittee.
This has the potential to expand the reputational risks faced by agencies that work with fossil fuel companies, and perhaps uncover conduct that constitutes legal risk as well.
For over 100 years, PR and ad firms have been working on behalf of fossil fuel companies to sell the idea that fossil fuels are anything but the problem.
From the beginning, their strategy has always been to make false promises. Here is how it began, and why it must end.
Second, with the help of PR and ad companies, fossil fuels are drowning out the renewable energy in the public debate - by at least 400:1.
Renewable energy simply cannot keep up with the onslaught of campaigns engineered by the biggest firms on the planet.
Last, the ties between fossil fuels and the ad and PR industry are extensive, and frequently produce misleading campaigns.
We collected data from tax records and other sources to show as many known recent and current contracts for fossil fuel companies as possible.
Today we’re releasing the 2023 F-List. It’s the most comprehensive and up-to-date picture of agencies working for fossil fuel polluters ever assembled. 🧵⬇️
#FList2023
#ClimateChange
#BigOil
Content created by
@TBrandStudio
just became an exhibit in a Congressional investigation into misleading climate communication.
@nytimes
readers and T-Brand's sustainability-focused clients would be much better served by the agency stepping away from fossil fuel clients:
In yesterday's Congressional hearings into fossil-fuel disinformation, Chairwoman Maloney cited ads made by the
@nytimes
as evidence of Exxon's history of spreading lies about
#ClimateChange
.😮😮😮
@TBrandStudio
, don't you think it's time to stop making the
#AdsNotFit2Print
?
.
@AKQA
believes in the imaginative application of art and science. It certainly takes imagination to ignore the science that says their clients
@BP_plc
and
@aramco
are wrecking the planet.
Nothing artistic or scientific about the biggest polluters on earth.
It is no longer acceptable, or possible, for ad and PR agency executives to ignore the damage their work with fossil fuel clients is doing.
If they are interested in recruiting and protecting young talent, they need to stop working for the world’s biggest polluters.
OK, here's our announcement!
On March 2nd, we’re holding our very own awards show: The F-List Awards!
There’s only one catch: these are awards you DON'T want to win.
Join us to highlight the egregious and the bizarre in fossil fuel advertising and PR.
.
@VMLYR
has had
@Chevron
as a global client since 1987, working from Australia to Pakistan to Singapore to the US (and beyond).
Chevron has become one of the world’s biggest polluters, and they don't have plans to change in the next 34 years.
We hope
@VMLYR
’s plans change.
.
@mccann_mw
is deep into the fossil fuel business. Deep deep. Global clients
@aramco
and
@exxonmobil
are the largest state-owned and publicly-owned polluters, respectively. Add
@equinor
and that’s more than 2 BILLION TONS of carbon pollution annually from just 3 clients.
.
@Wavemaker
works for
@Chevron
too.
When Chevron was found responsible for an oil spill called “The Amazon’s Chernobyl” that has poisoned thousands of Indigenous people in Ecuador, Wavemaker ran the media placement to shift public attention away.
First, between 2014 and 2018, fossil fuel companies spent at least $1 billion on trying to influence the public. That's more than $200 million per year.
This number combines limited disclosures of trade group spending, and corporate promotion tracked in academic research.
.
@EdelmanPR
's decision not to work on this dangerous project is the right one. Pressure from creatives is having a huge impact.
But Edelman still works with some of the world's biggest polluters. If this pipeline is too dirty, so are they. Time to lead.
BIG NEWS✊🏽📢
Standard Bank and Global PR firm (Edelman) part ways amid tensions of oil project [EACOP]
This is a big statement that financial institutions should finance the just energy transition & not climate bombs.
#PeopleOverProfits
#StopEACOP
Today
@UCSUSA
is releasing a letter signed by 424 scientists asking
@HKStrategies
to end their fossil fuel contracts before the UN climate talks in Egypt.
H+K runs the oil industry's international PR. That is incompatible with leading communications for the COP 27 talks.
A🧵:
Professional communicators have power. That is the reason that fossil fuel companies spend millions of dollars to secure their time.
Now more than ever, it's time to use that power to support a transformation of our energy system - not reinforce the power of fossil fuels.
We knew
@shell
was bad, but… wow… we found out just how bad this week.
New documents show that they ~accurately~ predicted 2 climate paths back in the ‘80s:
🌱 a clean energy transition
🌪️ rising fossil fuel demand w/devastating climate impacts
What did they do about it?🧵
Our next event is happening on July 27th!
We'll be talking with 3 incredible experts on how Big Oil's marketing borrows from Big Tobacco.
Get to know the connections with
@GeoffreySupran
@jeffnesbit
and
@amcpherson
- and how marketers can respond:
.
@Shell
admitted to investors that their current investments are incompatible with a Net Zero by 2050 goal.
@MediaComGlobal
is placing media buys for Shell that say the opposite - and have gotten Shell into legal jeopardy.
"These ads are part of a media strategy that oil companies and utilities have tapped in recent years aimed at dressing up their messages in socially acceptable garb." 🌧🌧🌧🌧
Today at Noon ET, we're releasing something... big. 🧐
Tune in here to watch it happen live, or if you're in New York City, DM us for details on our in-person event.
🎉🎉🎉
.
@RepMaloney
and I have called on six fossil fuel executives to testify before
@OversightDems
about their role in pushing climate disinformation and driving the climate crisis. We need answers and accountability.
We wrote case studies of 6 fossil fuel campaigns by
@PorterNovelli
,
@WPP
,
@BBDO
,
@Edelman
and
@FTIConsulting
and how they attempted to mislead the public about the fossil fuel industry's priorities.
At the end of the hottest year ever, it's time for these campaigns to end.
Exxon has accurately predicted the rate of global warming for decades, and the "uncertainty" narrative is *still* used today.
Advertising and PR - stop👏working👏with👏fossil👏fuel👏clients👏
You can be part of the change.
Who possibly could have predicted our current rate of
#globalwarming
? Oh, wait, Exxon Mobil's scientists nailed it decades ago, while their executives and PR flacks talked about the "uncertainties" of
#climate
science.
Working with fossil fuel clients? You might want to check with your lawyers.
Fossil fuel advertising and PR is coming under legal scrutiny worldwide.
See our new report SMOKE AND MIRRORS on the legal risks of fossil fuel advertising:
Today we’re releasing a new whitepaper on the UK ad industry’s Ad Net Zero initiative.
UK ad agencies create 84,000 tons of CO2 pollution annually.
Their fossil fuel clients create 6.74 billion tons.
It's time to close the loophole in Ad Net Zero:
Well7 isn’t on Twitter — or anywhere else — because
@InterpublicIPG
doesn’t want to talk about their extensive work for a company that funds human rights abuses like the death penalty for LGBTQ people, and imprisoning (or beheading) journalists.
“Those [Congressional] investigations were devastating for the reputations for both Big Tobacco and their ad and PR agencies. I think the same thing is going to happen with the fossil fuel companies and the agencies that worked with them.”
Today we’re launching the
@AdNetZero
channels on Twitter, IG, and TikTok!
🚨No one from
@ad_association
's
#adnetzero
reserved these handles - so we did🚨 We’ll gladly share access if they can offer a plan to get the industry to stop working for fossil fuels.
Hi 👋 You may be expecting this to be the launch of the
@ad_association
's Ad Net Zero channels.
But they didn’t grab this handle on Twitter, IG, or TikTok. They also haven't made a plan to end the ad industry's work with fossil fuels.
Luckily,
@cleancreatives
is here to help.
🏃🏻♀️Big oil is always chasing after potential audiences to misinform, and the newest ones are increasingly on social media via Influencers. That's why we started the
#CleanCreators
pledge, asking creators to not work with the
#fossilfuel
industry.
In fact, you might notice a trend of
@InterpublicIPG
companies working for
@Aramco
. That’s not a coincidence. IPG has set up an agency to serve the world’s biggest polluter exclusively. It’s called Well7, named after the well that first produced oil in Saudi Arabia.
There is a growing wave of talented professionals walking away from working for fossil fuels, in advertising, PR, finance, and beyond.
We want you to meet some of the people who are a part of this growing trend - a 🧵
👇👇
#climateaction
#fossilfuel
#greenwashing
#adagency
Incredibly awkward interaction from earlier in this
#slipperysix
hearing:
Shell's US CEO denying that recent climate science is a 'red alert' for the planet and that climate change is an 'existential threat.' You can’t solve climate change if you can't admit it's serious.
Often, ad and PR companies will describe their campaigns for fossil fuel companies as an effort to balance the public debate.
What these numbers show is that there is no way to balance the debate as long as they continue to run fossil fuel campaigns.
The
@NYTimes
runs their own disinformation shop too. As their reporters run exposés of fossil fuel lies,
@TBrandStudio
lends the paper's voice and credibility to known climate misinformers.
Over at
@PublicisGroupe
, their flagship agencies play vital roles greenwashing major fossil fuel companies. Their client
@TotalEnergies
is being hauled into a French court for advertising that their emissions are decreasing, when they are in fact going up.
@Shell
@femalequotient
@tolmeia
Brand videos about women's empowerment are an obviously transparent effort to distract from Shell's huge negative impact on women.
We hope agencies and creatives use
#CannesLions2022
as an opportunity to see how fossil fuel clients are incompatible with their deeply held values.
"UN climate campaign leaders are taking advice from a PR firm that works extensively for fossil fuel giants"
@BrunswickGroup
is playing both sides of the industry, and just recently opened up an office in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
Remember those algae fuel ads
@BBDOworldwide
made for
@exxonmobil
? In the emails, Exxon staff dance around the fact that those fuels simply do not exist. Now they’re in court in Massachusetts and beyond for misleading consumers.
.
@Mindshare
’s client
@bp_plc
is being sued in multiple jurisdictions for misleading consumers about their sustainability plans.
Mindshare is placing the media for the ads targeting consumers designed to mislead the public about BP’s policies.
The world's most authoritative report on climate change just released a new chapter.
In it, scientists showed how advertising and PR agencies are deepening the climate emergency by working with fossil fuel companies.
@DuncanWrites
explains in
@TheDrum
: