Clean Creatives

🗣️ “We’re going to change this fossil fuel company from the inside!” This is a commonly used argument from ad agencies still working for oil and gas but we want to debunk this myth. If you’re a creative in the ad industry, we know that you’re great at your job. You’re incredibly persuasive. But… fossil fuel companies have been advertising that they’re interested in changing for decades. For the past 40 years climate scientists have been demanding change, and they haven’t. The truth is - agencies are simply the megaphone that share fossil fuel companies financial and operational decisions with the world. Your next deck won’t change that. Instead, you can refuse to do work with fossil fuels until these companies look radically different. How? By signing the Clean Creatives pledge and joining over 1,200 agencies who are ready to take real climate action: cleancreatives.org #Advertising #Greenwashing #Sustainability #ClimateChange #CleanCreatives 

🏆 The Ad Net Zero Awards Ceremony are right around the corner on Thursday, November 21st celebrating, “the winners of this year’s Campaign UK Ad Net Zero Award". The Awards presentation and lunch will showcase and celebrate the outstanding work being delivered across the ever-evolving sustainable advertising industry. Why is this important and something to watch? Ad Net Zero wants the Ad & PR industry to reach net zero but its awards shortlist for 2024 is full of agencies working for fossil fuel companies. From dentsu being shortlisted for the ‘Best Practice in Sustainability Award’ while working for 18 different major fossil fuel polluters to Havas Media Network being featured in the ‘Best Practice in Sustainable Media Planning’ category while facing continued pressure for its work with Shell, the Ad Net Zero awards are full of conflicts of interest. It’s this simple: if Ad Net Zero can’t address its members’ biggest contribution to the climate emergency, they won’t really ever get to net zero for the ad industry. 🏆 In 2023, 74% of Ad Net Zero award winners worked for oil and gas clients. How many do you think will win this year? (As you might know, Clean Creatives runs the @adnetzero social handles on Instagram, X and TikTok and our offer still stands, Ad Net Zero! Give us your plan for addressing your sponsors ties to fossil fuels, and we’ll hand the accounts over to the team. We’re looking forward to seeing all of the industry tags coming in in the lead-up to the awards!) #AdNetZero #Campaign #AdNetZeroAwards #CampaignANZ #Sustainability #Dentsu #Havas #AKQA #Hogarth #MCSaatchi

🗓️ We still have plenty more events on the calendar for 2024 and we can’t wait to wrap up the year with you! If you’re near to London, Paris or Vancouver, be sure to add these dates to your diaries: 🇫🇷 Paris Meet & Greet - Tuesday, December 3rd @ 6:30pm with Sharpbrands Join our first Paris meetup to meet other people from creative agencies and discuss how we can be a part of climate solutions in France. ✉️ RSVP: https://lnkd.in/ernESShb 🇨🇦 Vancouver Happy Hour - Thursday, December 5th @ 6:00pm This is our first event in Vancouver! Meet others in the creative industry and learn about creative climate solutions in the warm environment of a literary studio. ✉️ RSVP: https://lnkd.in/e47Ahsmt 🇬🇧 London Happy Hour - Wednesday, December 11th @ 6:30pm  Wrap up 2024 in London with special guests including Duncan Meisel, Executive Director of Clean Creatives, agency founders, agency activists and more. ✉️ RSVP: https://lnkd.in/ee7xtX-4 🚨 Spaces always fill up fast, so, be sure to RSVP as soon as possible. #CleanCreatives #HappyHour #Vancouver #London #Paris #SharpBrands #Creativity #Marketing #AdIndustry #PublicRelations #Sustainability #Climate #EcoFriendly

👏 YOU are making a difference! How? Here’s the proof - Havas just admitted to its shareholders that it has ‘experienced significant negative publicity and corresponding reputational harm’ in light of losing its B Corp certification. Swipe to learn why. ➡️ Here’s the timeline: ✉️ In October 2023, Clean Creatives and B Corp-certified agencies in our network submitted a complaint to B Lab about Havas and its work with Shell. 🏆 In July 2024, B Lab did the right thing and revoked the B Corp certification of 4 Havas agencies.  ‼️ At the end of October 2024, Havas published its 369-page prospectus admitting that it ‘has faced, and is likely to continue to face, negative publicity based on the identity of its clients’, including those in the fossil fuel sector. Havas is listening to us and making it clear that it will continue to experience reputational harm - affecting its ability to attract clients and employees - for as long as they accept work from the oil and gas companies. Your voices are powerful. ♻️ Share this post with your network to show more people that becoming a Clean Creative works! 🔗 Read more about Havas’ prospectus: https://lnkd.in/eGZS66VJ #CleanCreatives #Havas #BCorp #BLab #Sustainability #Campaign #Greenwashing #HavasProspectus #Prospectus

⚠️ Teneo is the lead agency for COP29 Azerbaijan - the world’s climate change conference kicking off this week. Teneo is also working for 5 fossil fuel companies which are in direct conflict with what global leaders and their communities are trying to achieve at COP29. According to DeSmog, Azerbaijan, signed a $5 million contract with New York PR agency, Teneo who also work clients such as BHP, ADNOC Group (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) - Masdar, Centrica, ENGIE and EnQuest. But there’s more! Teneo’s President of Global Strategy & Communications, Geoff Morrell, is a former bp communications chief. How can COP29 be a “a moment of truth for the Paris Agreement” when its PR firm is simultaneously working for the world's biggest polluters? 🔗Learn more from Desmog about Teneo & COP29 here: https://lnkd.in/eeAWAQ4j #Teneo #COP29 #Azerbaijan #PublicRelations #PR #Marketing #Sustainability #ClimateChange #Desmog

Clean Creatives is not a political organization, but we recognize that our work is influenced by politics, and right now we are feeling many of the same concerns you likely have about the outcome of the US Presidential Election. President Elect Trump’s plans for climate action and for the business environment are obvious threats to the planet, and the people who live on it. We suspect many of you, whether you live in the US or not, are rightly disturbed about what his election result could mean for your future and your family’s well-being. We are feeling the same concerns, and wanted to take a moment to reflect on what this might mean for our work together at Clean Creatives. In short, we think the need for Clean Creatives has never been greater. We are nearing the end of another record hot year, and there has never been more urgency for the creative industry to make itself part of the solution. We need bold, human, ambitious stories - the kind that creative industry professionals are the best at creating. And we need them told responsibly, not used to advance the interest of polluters who are ruining our one planet. If governments like Trump’s are going to step back from climate action, we need business to step even further forward. There is no future for business of any kind on a planet devastated by extreme weather, where growing food and building communities is harder than ever, and people are constantly living in fear of the next climate disaster. Clean energy remains one of the most positive economic and political forces on earth, and we need everyone on board to accelerate the transition towards an economy that works for people and the planet. So while we understand that the path forward is more difficult, we are also more determined. Our work will continue, and we will make sure that every leader of every agency working with fossil fuel polluters recognizes the harm they are causing, and the risks they are taking. We are going to take a few weeks to assess our options and make a plan for the coming year based on this unfortunate new reality. Please feel free to reach out to our team either by replying here, or contacting us directly.

👋 Thank you to everyone who attended our Off The Hill event in Washington DC alongside This January! We had a great evening discussing finding your role as a creative and how to address climate action in your workplace. Thank you to Amy Hartzler (Do Good Better), Alfonso Cuesta (Salta With Us) and Alexander Bryden (Browning Environmental Communications) for joining us for our panel discussion. Events like this wouldn’t be possible without the help of our Clean Creatives community made up of passionate individuals who are saying no to working with fossil fuel companies. ✍️ Sign the pledge to join our community and find out more about upcoming events: cleancreatives.org 📸: Abayomi Ogundipe #WashingtonDC #ThisJanuary #CleanCreatives #Sustainability #PR #Marketing #Communications #Networking

Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future, a coalition funded by major fracking/natural gas and pipeline companies, employs extensive public relations strategies - with the help of agencies such as Omnicom’s Mercury Public Affairs, LLC - to promote natural gas as a clean energy solution. What does that sound like? ❎ Greenwashing. Because it is.❎ Read Public Citizen's new report on the complicated web of lies that are locking in environmental destruction - https://lnkd.in/enc-9qJr

🧑🎓 Now hiring! We’re on the hunt for undergrads in advertising, PR and communications to join our Clean Creatives Campus Ambassador program, Class of 2024-2025. Here’s the reality: 🔥 Ad and PR agencies are still working with fossil fuel clients like Shell and ExxonMobil, who are wrecking the planet. 🔥 Those fossil fuel companies are doubling down on pollution, even though the science is crystal clear. 🔥 And your creativity? They’re using it to lie about the damage. But you can help stop this. As a Clean Creatives Campus Ambassador, you’ll use your voice to rally your campus and lead our industry toward a cleaner future. This is your shot to make a real difference—and work with an organization that shares your values. Benefits include: 💰A $3,200 stipend for your work, plus an event budget to fuel your ideas. 🧢Exclusive Clean Creatives merch to rock on campus. 💻Hands-on experience that builds your resume and portfolio with real-world projects. 🤳Access to a network of industry leaders fighting for change. 🧠 One-on-one mentorship from top pros in the Clean Creatives network to help you grow your career. Applications close on November 17th. Read the full details on how to apply at https://lnkd.in/eZzheb6r #NowHiring #CampusAmbassador #CleanCreatives #Advertising #PR #Communications #Students #Sustainability #Environment #ClimateChange #Greenwashing

Here’s Duncan Meisel explaining everything you need to know about WPP, EACOP and the reality of working with the fossil fuel industry as an ad agency. Discovered by Clean Creatives South Africa in an awards submission video, WPP’s subsidiary MetropolitanRepublic, set up a totally fake front grassroots movement to ‘squash all negative PR’ from environmental protests against a heavily polluting pipeline that will harm communities in Tanzania and Uganda. The campaign was seemingly coordinated with the Ugandan government, with a hashtag trending on Twitter with the help of over 70 posts by Ugandan government accounts. MetropolitanRepublic’s award submission also used photos of 15 grassroots activists in Uganda - 8 of those 15 have been harassed, arrested, or beaten by Ugandan police. 👉 The truth is, working with the bad guys means doing bad things which is exactly why we need you and your colleagues to join our movement to stop campaigns that harm both people and the planet.  ♻️Share this video with your network so more creatives can learn how to fight back against harmful marketing tactics like this one. 🔗Read the full investigation by DeSmog about WPP’s work with TotalEnergies here: https://lnkd.in/er6knS32 #WPP #EACOP #MetropolitanRepublic #TotalEnergies #Sustainability #Advertising #Greenwashing #CleanCreatives