Last year, brands like Bud Light and Target faced backlash from both sides of the political spectrum after groups disagreed with their actions in support of LGBTQ+ people. Those events seem to have created something of a chilling effect, leading brands to either scale back or simply keep quiet about purpose-focused initiatives—especially those that some would consider progressive, or woke.
Tension is to be expected
Still, green silence could be a small piece of the very tension that’s expected that ultimately drives social change, noted Jonathan Wise, co-founder of climate-focused ad network, Purpose Disruptors.
Throughout 2023, there was a noted increase in activism targeting the ad industry’s impact on the climate crisis. Industry groups like Clean Creatives and Creatives for Climate executed splashier actions, and even mainstream climate activist groups like Extinction Rebellion targeted ad agencies for their relationships with fossil fuel clients.
As pressure from activists, climate-minded ad professionals and external climate bodies increased, those protecting the status quo doubled down—prompting some brands to scale back their communications on climate-related work, wary of backlash, Wise explained.
But that resulting tension is only likely to increase throughout this year, especially given the divisiveness that elections tend to foster. And that doesn’t mean advertisers shouldn’t face the reality of what climate scientists are saying, translate that logically into the influence their work has, and then work toward a livable future.
“It’s going to be a real rock and a hard place for brands,” Townsend said. “We’ve got cohorts of consumers coming through who demand this information, increasing rules about greenwash [and] these very big extremes in terms of what we might get held [accountable] for, publicly.”
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