100+ creators, experts, and advocates release public statement asking Edelman drop fossil fuel clients: “There is no grey area here.”

Contact: Duncan Meisel, duncan@fossilfree.media

WhatsApp/Signal: +1-512-657-9124

In response to PR giant Edelman’s recent efforts to engage the environmental community on behalf of their clients, a group of 100+ creators, experts, and advocates, from Ilana Glazer, to Lindsey Peoples Wagner, Sophia Bush, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Christiana Figueres, Phillip Picardi, Kimberly Drew, David Cross, Maria Popova, Amy Poehler, Meena Harris, Philippe Cousteau, and Chani Nicholas, have joined together to release a joint statement calling on Edelman to end their work with fossil fuel companies like Exxon.

The effort was sparked by Slow Factory, a group of educators engaged by Edelman on behalf of TAZO tea in September, at the same time that Edelman’s secret work with Exxon was revealed by Clean Creatives. In response, a group of those educators and creators engaged Edelman in private conversations, asking them to end work with fossil fuel clients such as Exxon. Those conversations were not successful, and so they gathered a broader group of high-profile collaborators to make their demands public. 

“Edelman's fancy ads are giving ExxonMobil social license to operate, and to thereby destroy our climate. With this campaign, culture makers are using their own social clout to say ‘not on my watch. #EdelmanDropExxon’” said Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, one of the organizers of the letter.

“The truth is, it’s time for all of us with platforms to start using our influence in ways which holds truth to power when discussing the climate crisis,” said Aja Barber, another organizer of the letter.

Edelman’s work for fossil fuel companies extends from its most recent efforts to assist Exxon in defeating major US climate legislation, to its longstanding work for trade associations such as the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers and past work for the American Petroleum Institute. These campaigns have often sought to manipulate public perception of major aspects of climate science, and solutions.

“As we explored in one of our classes as part of Open Education, our free online climate studies classes at Slow Factory, PR was invented to influence the public on smoking cigarettes and driving cars. PR is a driving industry — no pun intended — for fossil fuel expansion, tobacco plantations and the adoption of plastic,” said Celine Semaan from Slow Factory, one of the groups initially approached by Edelman and an organizer of the letter. “By manipulating the way the public perceives what is desirable and what is of a certain status, PR agencies helped the companies they represented carry out land grabs for oil drilling - similar to what Edelman is responsible for on behalf of Exxon - and pushed the adoption of the individual carbon footprint which was invented by BP oil to shift the blame and the responsibility from the oil industry to individuals.”

Agencies linked to fossil fuel clients have been under growing scrutiny and pressure since the launch of the Clean Creatives campaign. Clean Creatives organizes leading agencies and creatives to end work with fossil fuel companies, and has gathered commitments from over 180 agencies, and 600 individuals in the advertising and PR industry since November 2020. 

“Modern PR and ad agencies rely on collaborations with creators, educators, and influencers like the leaders that have signed this letter. Agencies with fossil fuel clients should take this as a serious sign that working with big polluters will damage their ability to build the kind of collaborative, purpose-driven campaigns that brands want,” said Duncan Meisel, Director of Clean Creatives. “Richard Edelman’s defense of work with fossil fuel clients is doing significant reputational damage to his agency’s brand as a leader in trust. Rejecting fossil fuel clients would open the door for Edelman to work more closely with collaborators like the ones that signed this letter, and ultimately better serve their clients.”

The full letter is available at cleancreatives.org/edelmandropexxon

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