Ogilvy
Risk Level:
Summary:
Ogilvy, an advertising and PR firm, has not terminated business relationships due to ideological beliefs, though it vets suppliers according to LGBTQ policies. Ogilvy has used its reputation to support "anti-racism" and critical race theory, and it does not protect employees from viewpoint discrimination. For these reasons, Ogilvy receives a "Medium Risk" rating.
Has denied service to customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.
Ogilvy received a score of 100 on the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign (1). Among other requirements, this means Ogilvy vets suppliers according to LGBTQ policies.
Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.
Employment policies fail to protect against discrimination based on political affiliation/views and/or religion.
Ogilvy does not provide political viewpoint protections to employees (1).
Uses corporate reputation to support ideological causes and/or organizations hostile to freedom of expression.
In 2020, Ogilvy compiled and published a list of “Anti-Racism Resources” that included books such as White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo and How To Be An Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi (1). In that same year, Ogilvy released a report entitled Justice and Brand Accountability, in which it encouraged other companies to fully buy into the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, including by following and quoting the official BLM movement’s Instagram page on social media (2).
Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.
In 2020, Ogilvy announced that it would match up to $1000 per employee to any of the 25 organizations supporting racial justice; however, nowhere does the company specify which organizations it included in the giving campaign (1). Ogilvy’s parent company, WPP, released a list of organizations it supported through a similar matching campaign at the same time, although it is unclear whether Ogilvy used the same list (2).
Uses corporate political contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.
Ogilvy does not operate a PAC.
All links were last accessed and all information was updated on:
December 21, 2022
Company reports are intended for educational use only. Full Disclaimer