High profile campaign reaches fresh milestone, as pressure not to work with polluting clients intensifies
The Clean Creatives campaign has announced more than 1,000 PR and advertising agencies have now pledged not to work with fossil fuel firms.
Set up three years ago, the Clean Creatives campaign calls on advertising and PR firms - and the professionals who work for them - to refuse to work with coal, oil, and gas firms.
In an update this morning, the group said the number of agencies to have signed up to its pledge has now passed the 1,000 mark, with its membership more than doubling since this time last year.
"We're incredibly proud to stand with 1,000 agencies of all sizes and disciplines worldwide refusing to work with the fossil fuel industry," said Duncan Meisel, executive director of Clean Creatives. "The Clean Creatives pledge has galvanised a global community of agencies committed to serious climate action, and they are seeing countless benefits in employee engagement, positioning for clients, and alignment for purpose."
Of the 1,000 agencies to have signed up, 350 are headquartered in the US, and 265 in the UK, according to the update.
To celebrate the 1,000 agency milestone, Clean Creatives has produced a satirical video aimed at the industry. In it, a Rube Goldberg machine - a contraption famous for its use in Honda's The Cog advertisement - features alongside other references to key ad concepts and cliches. The spot ends in a dumpster fire extinguished by a Clean Creative and calls on ad execs to ditch old ideas and embrace being "the good guys" in the fight against climate change.
Recent new pledges include commitments from from AdAge's 2020 and 2022 International Agency of the Year, Mother New York, and Lucky Generals, which have been shortlisted for Campaign's Agency of the Year for the last five years running. They join large agencies such as Allison, with over 1,000 employees across more than 50 markets, and GALE, with a global workforce of over 750.
The backing from a number of larger agencies represents a significant boost to the campaign, which has faced resistance from several global advertising and PR firms that have climatre goals in place. Such firms have rejected calls to ditch fossil fuel clients, arguing they will continue to work with carbon intensive firms to help support their transition to cleaner products and services.
