Remember that satirical cover you saw on Twitter or Facebook and found so funny? It is probably the work of Nico Ordozgoiti (Madrid, 40 years old), an advertising creative who not only went through some of the most important agencies in Spain (Leo Burnett, Ogilvy, CHINA, LolaMullenLowe…) but also invented memes – Left Wing Cuddro-in-law, Gastroexplotador, Ñeñeñé— that have gone viral on social networks and have reached in the National Library of France. He’s now the creative director of agency We Are Social and has joined Creatives for the future, a platform of advertisers looking for tools to raise awareness against climate change, and has pledged not to advertise fossil fuels.
Questions. How did you start with satirical magazines?
Answers. It came about as a result of the typical article of an older man complaining about the boys, I did a cover and people shared it a lot. It’s a format that works very well on social networks. I have always done such experiments. During confinement I shot the illustrated story I want to date my wife Cova Díaz – also a publicist – to explain to our son Max why we couldn’t go out during a pandemic and we were interviewed by different TV channels in Europe and Latin America.
By: Nico Ordozgoiti, @Nicordarts
Posted by The Privilege of Feeling on Thursday June 15, 2017
Q Where does climate awareness come from?
R Ever since I started looking at the IPCC reports [el panel de expertos de la ONU] and the effects of global warming, particularly following the birth of my eldest son who is now five years old. As a creative person, I thought what the heck am I doing as a guy doing advertising? It is a task that should be done by scientists and politicians. But then I started to think that it also has a lot to do with the narrative and the stories. In advertising, we’re very aware that people are very narrative, they don’t care as much about data as they do about stories: we can create narratives that motivate people to demand something from governments.
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Q What messages can reach it?
R People understand that climate activists have the message that “we’re all going to die,” and that doesn’t work very well because if people think all is lost, they won’t do anything. There are effects of the climate crisis that we cannot avoid, but others can: the more it is emitted, the more the temperature will rise and the worse the consequences will be. The first message is that this is not a binary problem, but that something can always be done. And then you have to create narratives that have to do with hope, empowerment, “it’s in your hands, we are the generation that can change history.” We have to get away from the personal narrative of ‘I’m not doing enough’.
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Q Is there a dichotomy between advertising and climate change?
R Yes, hypocrisy is something everyone experiences, I as a creative experience it more than anyone else. Advertising has been guilty of negative things such as B. promoting wild consumption or washing the face of fossil and polluting industries. But I also can’t go to the mountains and fight society with sticks and stones, I have to act from where I am. We are all a bit hypocritical, the important thing is not to become cynical and not to give up. And know that even if we are hypocrites, individually or collectively, we can make a difference. Advertising also has positive things, like the ability to generate messages that compel people to do something, which can be buying a product, but also taking action on the climate crisis.
Q Is the advertising world sustainable?
R It’s as untenable as any industry. But it’s no longer the world of opulence it was before the crisis, it’s much more reserved because there’s not that much money left either. The worst thing about this world is selling a narrative that the fossil fuel industry is part of the change and working for sustainability, something that isn’t true.
The creative director Nico Ordozgoiti, in the Parque de la Chimenea in Madrid. INMA FLOWERS
Q Can you change that?
R At Creatives for the future we have three principles: be sustainable as individuals and as a company, make sustainability sexy through new narratives and try to convince customers to get involved in the climate crisis. How is this achieved? There is a lot of discussion. Personally, I have decided that I will not work with the fossil fuel industry because the campaigns they are running are more greenwashing [lavado verde] something else. Others on the platform prefer to work with them and try to change the messages from within. And then, even when your work day ends, you can use your creative skills to create a narrative that has nothing to do with who is paying you. There are about 30 other people involved on the platform and then there are people who sign up to be informed. Right now we’re having conversations with activists and scientists to talk about the intersection between creativity and sustainability.
Q How to fight greenwashing?
R It is precisely on this topic that we want to focus, because it is a very interesting intersection of creativity and sustainability, which is why in the last few posts there has been talk of greenwashing, how to recognize it, notorious cases… Fortunately, people are becoming more and more aware and it is harder to sneak it. So if a company wants to do that, you can explain it to them, that’s not the way, you see the feather duster. Not just out of activism, but out of personal interest.
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