Climate change turns up the heat on ad industry

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Critics have long attacked the oil industry for ad campaigns that tell people their policies or products are more environmentally friendly than they really are. But the ad agencies behind the campaigns have largely escaped scrutiny. That’s changing

Solitaire Townsend, co-founder of Futerra advertising firm, poses for a portrait in London, Britain December 11, 2020. Picture taken December 11. REUTERS/Toby Melville

That’s changing, as the issue of climate change shoots up the global agenda. Climate activists and some ad industry figures are calling on agencies to declare or dump their Big Oil clients. A prominent climate protest group, Extinction Rebellion, last year unfurled a banner reading “TELL THE TRUTH” outside the advertising industry’s top awards ceremony in Cannes, France. Activists in the Netherlands and other European countries are campaigning for a tobacco-style ban on fossil fuel advertising.

WPP did not handle the ad featuring Steve, formally known as “We Agree.” That ad is part of a global campaign created in 2010 by New York-based agency Dentsu McGarryBowen LLC. Jennifer Ferguson, a spokeswoman for McGarryBowen’s holding company, Dentsu Group Inc, declined to comment.

“There was a sea change in how we viewed tobacco products after we learned about that industry’s disinformation,” she said. “We’re on the cusp of that with climate.” Ad agency staff “are forced to treat all clients as equal,” said Solitaire Townsend, co-founder of Futerra, a mid-sized advertising firm based in London. “But for the best young talent that simply isn’t good enough anymore. They know that creativity has consequences, so our industry cannot be neutral.”

 

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Yes! Finally. I can't tell you how hopeful I am for the new administration to finally tackle some serious issues. This focus on advertising is desperately needed. I believe our country should be much further ahead in this area. We absolutely must win Georgia! Please VOTE!☝️🍑🙏✨

How about journalists who don't challenge bare faced lies about CSG and fracking?

More good news please(((

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