Ben Co-Founder 01 November, 2024 • 5 mins Why Empower took on the Clean Creatives pledge Empower was an early signatory of Clean Creatives’ pledge: “Our agency will decline any future contracts with fossil fuel companies, trade associations, or front groups.” Empower Life
Clean Creatives unites agencies like ours, who believe that working with fossil fuel clients represents a serious threat to our planet’s future. As a digital comms agency, we have a responsibility not to do the fossil fuel industry’s dirty work for them. As such, it made complete sense to us to take on the Clean Creatives pledge for agencies, stating outright that we will refuse contracts from those with links to projects damaging the environment. Empower has a longstanding history within the climate space; we have worked with multiple environmentally-minded clients since our foundation, and we have attended all but one of the COP climate talks that have taken place since 2016.
In light of Clean Creatives publishing their F-List report, Empower Co-Founder, Ben Matthews, was recently asked by Campaign Asia-Pacific to share his thoughts on the role that agencies like Empower can play when it comes to potential clients with links to fossil fuels. You can find the full article here, plus Ben’s answers to the questions in full below… 1. The recent F-List report that found more than 1,000 agencies had contracts with fossil fuel clients. Any ideas on what it will take to get ad agencies to divest from fossil fuel clients? Clean Creatives, the campaign behind the report, makes a strong comparison between the advertising industries’ relationship between the tobacco industry and the fossil fuel industry. The once glamorous world of tobacco advertising suffered a halt after they struggled to hire talent due to the increasing public awareness of smoking being unhealthy, and lawsuits started to pile up. As the talent dried up, the ad campaigns performed worse, and the sales declined, while the agencies themselves put themselves in ever-increasing reputational and legal danger. The sooner agencies divest from fossil fuels, the better – for their staff, their bottom lines and the wider world they operate in. It’s the hypocritical agencies that are the hardest to move, managing clean tech accounts on one side of the office and fossil fuel accounts on the other.
2. Currently, Clean Creatives has its pledge where creatives pledge to decline work with agencies that retain fossil fuel industry clients. But is this enough? On its own, it’s not enough. But the Clean Creatives pledge is a mark that is raising awareness of the issue throughout the industry. The more agencies they join, the better. Like B Corp certification, it will soon become part of the new business process, helping agencies stand out and brands to reject agencies who don’t meet the mark. But pledges are not enough without action and there are plenty of wider actions that agencies and brands can take to help mitigate the climate crisis.
3. What is the likelihood of a complete ban on fossil fuel advertising? And are agencies preparing for such a ban? Rather than a complete ban, we’re likely to see a reduction in opportunities over time to be able to advertise, and those formats will become more restricted – much like tobacco advertising. And much like tobacco advertising, creatives will still find a way to get their message across effectively. My bigger hope is that it doesn’t become economically viable to put as much spend behind fossil fuels brands. Clean tech brands become such an economically dominant force that the momentum is with them and it’s natural to put spend behind more climate-conscious brands compared to the ones that are killing the planet.
4. Overall, are agencies doing enough to address climate change and end fossil fuel advertising? What can / should they be doing? Despite accusations of greenwashing and pushback, particularly in the US, the momentum is with the agencies that are addressing climate change and working to end fossil fuel advertising. Ignore the short-term noise and look at the long-term trend. The momentum is with forward thinking agencies who reject the fossil fuel brands. I predict the F List will soon act as the Z list for agencies that talent and brands want to avoid.
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