To the shareholders of Interpublic Group and Omnicom Inc.

Clean Creatives warns shareholders of Interpublic Group and Omnicom that their proposed merger consolidates significant risks linked to fossil fuel clients, including legal liabilities, reputational damage, and future revenue losses as energy markets transition.

• The proposed merger between Omnicom and IPG would result in a combined entity holding at least 124 contracts with fossil fuel companies, which the author defines as firms generating over 50% of their revenue from fossil fuels. Major clients include ExxonMobil with 9 contracts, Shell and TotalEnergies with 4 each, and Chevron, Repsol, Saudi Aramco, and Suncor with 3 each.
• The companies face growing legal exposure, with over 80 global lawsuits regarding misleading communications by fossil fuel companies. Specifically, the Massachusetts Attorney General's lawsuit against ExxonMobil cites work produced by subsidiaries of both Omnicom and IPG, and both parent companies have been subpoenaed by Congressional investigations into fossil fuel marketing.
• The author argues that a structural decline in the fossil fuel sector, driven by peaking demand and a shift toward renewables, will likely lead to cuts in discretionary spending for marketing and PR. This is supported by the observation that clean energy investment has outpaced fossil fuel investment since 2016, with solar energy receiving half a trillion dollars in annual investment by 2024.
• Work with fossil fuel clients creates conflicts of interest with other sectors in the agencies' portfolios. In the insurance industry, climate disaster-related costs are estimated at $140 billion in 2024, while fossil fuel pollution causes economic damage equivalent to 3.3% of global GDP, primarily through healthcare costs.

APA

Meisel, D. (n.d.). To the shareholders of Interpublic Group and Omnicom Inc. Clean Creatives. https://cleancreatives.org/merger-letter

Chicago

Meisel, Duncan. To the shareholders of Interpublic Group and Omnicom Inc. Clean Creatives, n.d. https://cleancreatives.org/merger-letter.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Meisel |first1=Duncan |title=To the shareholders of Interpublic Group and Omnicom Inc. |publisher=Clean Creatives |url=https://cleancreatives.org/merger-letter |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{meiselndshareholders, author = {Meisel, Duncan}, title = {{To the shareholders of Interpublic Group and Omnicom Inc.}}, publisher = {Clean Creatives}, url = {https://cleancreatives.org/merger-letter}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }