WPP linked to double the oil advertising as US rivals, report reveals
British advertising giant WPP is facing allegations of helping to facilitate an estimated £740m ($1bn) in adspend for oil clients like Shell, BP, Chevron, and ExxonMobil since the 2015 Paris climate agreement.
As one of the UK’s leading advertising groups, WPP provided services to the oil giants, including securing adspace, target audience analysis, developing creative ideas, and designing logos – a report by DeSmog outlined.
“The UK prides itself on climate leadership, and yet WPP — the supposed jewel of the British advertising industry — is facilitating dangerously misleading advertising in the US. By creatively articulating the deception from big oil and gas, they’ve set the climate agenda back and continue to do so,” commented Dr. Victoria Harvey, researcher at UEA.
WPP contributed to almost twice the amount of Big Oil ad spend as its US competitors, Omnicomm and IPG (who merged in October 2025), accumulating 69% of the industry total – with Shell taking place as its top oil client.
WPP’s environmental policy says it is “committed to embedding environmental practices” and “the prevention of pollution” into its business strategy.
“WPP’s aim is to facilitate the continual improvement of the reduction of environmental impact of our operations and supply chain, and to promote low impact living,” the company policy states.
Affiliate Leaders did reach out to WPP, who declined to comment.
Greenwashing
The Paris Agreement, signed in 2015, brought together 196 countries looking to keep global temperature increase to below two degrees celsius – with scientists agreeing that a large part of this must be achieved by transitioning away from fossil fuels.
A US congressional investigation followed in 2024 which found that oil companies BP, Shell, Chevron, and ExxonMobil were using “deceptive and misleading” advertising strategies to take attention away from fossil fuels.
“The evidence uncovered by Oversight Committee Democrats shows that Big Oil has run campaigns to confuse and mislead the public while working unceasingly to lock down a fossil fuel future,” said Ranking Member Raskin.
“The climate crisis is now a civilizational emergency. Despite knowing about the devastating effects of their oil and gas products on the planet for decades, the industry has always prioritized its bottom line and chosen low-road PR tactics over a high-road commitment to addressing the crisis.”
The ad industry’s deep ties with big oil companies and its commitment to redesigning their public image has been in play for far longer than the Paris agreement. WPP and other ad agencies facilitated these dangerous tactics, the report alleges , and profited significantly from doing so.
