Ocean Outdoor launches green ad fund – but has no plans to stop working with polluters
Ocean Outdoor has launched a new fund giving a voice to charities and nonprofits that are working to save the planet.
‘Drops in The Ocean’ hopes to amplify the work of organizations tackling the climate emergency/Image via Ocean Outdoor
However, the premium digital out-of-home (DOOH) media owner has not outlined any commitments to cut down the amount of ad space it dedicates to high-carbon industries such as aviation, automotive and fast fashion.
Under the ‘Drops in the Ocean’ initiative, each year Ocean Outdoor will donate 2% of the group’s reported revenue to environmental charities in the form of advertising value across the company’s premium digital screen network in seven countries – the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway.
Organizations and causes associated with the preservation of land, nature, the oceans, global warming, pollution and the climate emergency are now invited to tap into the ‘Drops in The Ocean’ fund to amplify their messages, causes and fundraising appeals. The organizations selected will receive pro-bono advertising during a 12-month period.
Ocean Outdoor chief marketing officer Richard Malton said of the scheme: “2021 is the year of sustainability, bringing climate change back on to the political and socio-economic agenda with Cop26 in Glasgow and beyond. There’s a global emergency and, as a business, we want to give a platform to those causes and charities who are addressing the crisis.
“Ocean’s new fund allows us to expand our green and blue ambitions to cover a broader spectrum of environmental causes beyond important issues like the pollution of the oceans by single-use plastic, an issue that we will continue to campaign on.”
However, green activists are increasingly turning their focus to the advertising industry to address its complicity in facilitating the climate crisis, with calls for the ad industry to cease work with high-carbon and high-polluting clients at the top of the agenda.
At present, Ocean Outdoor does not have any commitments to minimize or cease work with any of said clients in high-carbon industries such as aviation, automotive and fast fashion.
Malton told The Drum: “Currently Ocean is addressing its own carbon footprint as part of the company’s sustainability policy, and we continue to support those industry networks that are working toward tackling the climate emergency. We are looking at all elements of our business chain, and ‘Drops in The Ocean’ is specifically for those charities that have sustainability at the heart of their organization.”