Where Holding Companies Stand:

Dentsu

Last year, Dentsu seemed like an example for the industry, through their work to become carbon neutral and transparency around how they intend to meet their sustainability goals. But this hasn’t stopped their work with oil majors including Chevron, Shell and Petronas. 

Ironically, while working for polluters, Dentsu also worked with Global Action Plan on a mural against air pollution for Clean Air Day 2024. Even though Dentsu is doing well with its sustainability reporting, we think it could set a better example by divesting from fossil fuels.

Edelman (DJE Holdings)

Edelman is perhaps the most notorious PR agency for its fossil fuel interests. It has a long history of lobbying, from astroturf campaigns for the American Petroleum Institute to recruiting support for TC Energy’s oil sands pipeline. Richard Edelman has been named as one of the Guardian’s top climate villains and he seems keen on cementing his legacy. 

Ironically, despite its work to deceive the public, Edelman has tried to build a name for itself around trust through a series of reports called the Trust Barometer, which it has used to promote petrostates like the United Arab Emirates and clean up its image. 

Edelman’s lobbying efforts for the UAE since 2007 resulted in the petrostate being chosen to host COP28, with Edelman working on the summit. The COP28 in-house communications team was led by the ex-Edelman executive Alan VanderMolen. Since then, Edelman continues to work for Masdar.

In the last year, Edelman has not made any new climate commitments, but they have renewed their contract with Shell. Their corporate position is that they are “proud of the work [they] do to support [their] energy clients.” Clean Creatives has revealed that Edelman worked for the Koch Foundation in 2022 and, in the 2024 F-List, we have exclusively uncovered three new Edelman contracts with Chevron, Sasol and ConocoPhillips from 2023 - 2024.

Havas

Perhaps the fastest villain arc happened last year when Havas won Shell’s media pitch and became unapologetic about working for one of the world’s largest polluters. In last year’s F-List, we considered Havas as a company on the verge of change, but things took a quick turn with the Shell win, which Campaign reports that Havas was ‘happy’ to pitch for.

It’s difficult to separate Havas’ agenda from its CEO Yannick Bolloré’s fossil fuel family business, Bolloré Logistics. Bolloré says that, by choosing Havas, Shell is showing that they are “serious in their transition journey.” But it seems like Shell knows exactly which family empire they’re in business with.

Interpublic Group (IPG)

IPG has introduced a new review process to screen prospective oil and gas clients to ensure that they are in line with the Paris Agreement and have ceased controversial oil and gas production. If only they would apply this to their existing client list, which had 50 fossil fuel contracts from 2023 - 2024, including Equinor, which is developing the controversial Rosebank oil field. IPG is the largest holding company with zero discontinued fossil fuel contracts between the 2023 and 2024 F-Lists, showing that they haven’t let go of existing oil and gas business, despite their new process.

One of IPG’s most famous fossil fuel accounts is McCann’s work for Saudi Aramco, which they won in 2019 and were reportedly repitching in November 2023. In response, climate collective Glimpse launched a spoof agency called Atmospheric, with the mission to “Keep the Fire Burning™” to compete for the same account and reflect the intentions of real agencies who are pitching for fossil fuel clients.

IPG states that they “do not work with any trade associations or lobbying groups that seek to extend the life of fossil fuels.” However, as far as we’re aware, Weber Shandwick has been working for the American Chemistry Council since 2018 and the Independent Fuel Suppliers Association (UPEI) since 2022. We would love to see a full client list, as, according to our analysis, they’re not holding up their end of the bargain.

Omnicom

As usual, Omnicom prefers to keep relatively silent about sustainability. Their 2023 Corporate Responsibility Report shows that they are advancing sustainability internally, powering their offices with 35% renewable energy and making progress to meet their SBTI target, but there has been no mention of how they are evaluating fossil fuel clients.The same offices they spotlight for CSR campaigns, like Ketchum Germany, also work for oil and gas majors like EnBW. Omnicom may work for renewable energy companies like Vattenfall, but has a longer history with ExxonMobil and BP. Until they take responsibility for their fossil fuel portfolio, how can they claim to protect our planet?

Publicis

Publicis likes to stay under the radar on sustainability, and has been fairly vague about their climate change commitments and how they intend to use ‘creativity against climate change’. Publicis may have a climate policy, but it says nothing about fossil fuels. Instead, their work speaks volumes, with 40 fossil fuel contracts in 2023 - 2024, including over 4 contracts each for Saudi Aramco and TotalEnergies.

Stagwell

Compared to other holding companies, Stagwell has the least fossil fuel contracts on the 2024 F-List, with 7 contracts from 2023 - 2024 which are mostly for fossil fuel utilities. Although Stagwell does not currently work for any oil and gas majors, they do represent Petrobras, Consumers Energy and Manila Electric Company (Meralco).

So far, four Stagwell agencies (Allison, Bruce Mau Design, Forsman & Bodenfors and GALE) have signed the Clean Creatives pledge to cut ties with fossil fuel clients. We’re glad that these agencies are taking a stand and hope the rest of the industry follows suit.

WPP

Consistent with last year, WPP is the holding company with the most contracts on the F-List, with 79 contracts from 2023 - 2024. Their 2023 Sustainability Report reiterates their existing policy to “not take on any client work, including lobbying, designed to frustrate the objectives of the Paris Agreement”. However, our research shows that their client list still includes several lobbying firms, including the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), American Chemistry Council, American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Australian Gas Infrastructure Group. We wonder how this slipped through their “ongoing review”.

WPP offers greenwashing training so their employees can “make effective green claims that are not misleading in any way”, yet 11 WPP agencies represent BP and/or Shell, who regularly receive greenwashing complaints. 

In the last year, WPP had two significant mergers, combining Wunderman Thompson and VMLY&R to create VML and BCW Global and Hill & Knowlton to create Burson. 

Burson seems to be a strategic decision to consolidate their fossil fuel shops, considering BCW and Hill & Knowlton’s history of both working for Saudi Aramco, Shell, ExxonMobil and ADNOC. Both firms have also represented the tobacco industry and engaged in climate crimes from a campaign promoting “clean coal” to launching the trade group America’s Natural Gas Alliance.

Out of all holding companies, WPP has the longest history of working for fossil fuels, with VML (formerly J. Walter Thompson) working for Shell since 1929. If they really want to embody their climate strategy and “follow rigorous standards of honesty and integrity”, we have some ideas.

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