“I think there are some risks in the sense of potentially alienating a client or a potential client if the agency has decided
to put a stake in the ground,” said Jeremy Rosenberg, a managing director at the public relations firm Allison & Partners.
“Through communication, you can change the way people think, the way people feel,” said Kirsten Flanik, president of BBDO New York.
“I think agency principals would have a good pulse on their employee base, but I think that is a potential concern as well.”
Agencies that have allocated resources to social projects say, however, that their employees are eager to participate.
For instance, an ad agency in Austin, Tex., recently teamed up with a community health organization, the American Civil Liberties Union and the director Richard Linklater to produce an online video, released last month, opposing a state bill
that would require transgender people to use bathrooms corresponding with the gender on their birth certificates in public schools and government-funded buildings.
“I don’t know how many people would make their decision about an ad firm based on this one way or another,
but some people who are more involved in politics might be upset,” said William Benoit, professor of communication studies at Ohio University.
“I think it helps everyone feel good about selling other stuff all the time.”
Ultimately, though, advertising executives say, the motivation is more about feeling compelled
to use their industry’s skills to draw attention to issues that matter in a divided culture.
“You sort of have this feeling of being helpless when something goes off the tracks in the country, so it’s nice to be able to do something,” said Neil Kraft, president
and creative director of KraftWorks, which last year developed a platform to support female entrepreneurs in collaboration with Women’s Entrepreneurship Day.