The Conscious Advertising Network Adds the7stars and december19 as Latest Members

The Conscious Advertising Network (CAN) today announced two new members - the7stars and december19. Launched in 2019, CAN is a UK-based voluntary coalition of over 150 organisations, which share a vision to ensure industry ethics catch up with the technology of modern advertising.

Both media agencies commit to CAN’s manifestos in order to retain membership, which cover seven main areas: hate speech; dis/misinformation; diversity and inclusion; children’s wellbeing; informed consent, advertising fraud, and climate and sustainability. 

Having been a long-term supporter of CAN, the7stars, the UK’s largest independent media agency, now joins CAN as a full member to support its efforts to drive more sustainable and ethical practices in advertising. Through its work with CAN, the7stars will help brands understand the influence they have and the role they play in promoting ethical messages.

Jenny Biggam, founder, the7stars, said: “By joining CAN, we’re hoping to support the coalition in its mission, which is closely aligned to our own values. We know the importance of doing the right thing, and our commitment to CAN is a small part of how we always look to do that.”

In addition, december19 is a leading media planning and buying agency in the UK, helping businesses to grow by making meaningful connections between brands and their audiences. By aligning with CAN’s manifestos, these connections will become even more meaningful.

Dave Barnett, managing director, december19, said: “There’s a real problem in our industry, as many overlook the impact of brands inadvertently funding divisive and harmful content. We can’t keep looking past this issue, which is why at december19, we’re determined to fix this problem. As guardian of billions of pounds of marketing budget, the advertising industry has a collective responsibility to society and CAN’s goal to lead a global movement in human rights based advertising provides an industry wide platform to make change. 

“december19 has always been committed to doing things the right way; we call it ‘business karma’. By partnering with CAN, we are committed to placing its manifestos in our response to client briefs with media planning and buying decisions. Making the december19 team, clients, and suppliers more conscious of media planning and buying decisions beyond audience reach is a positive step forward in creating a more responsible advertising industry.”

Harriet Kingaby and Jake Dubbins, co-founders at CAN, said: “At CAN, we’re focused on breaking the economic link between advertising and harmful content. With a combination of our advertising and human rights expertise, we’re continually striving to implement industry, platform, and policy interventions which are vital for the future health of the media industry. Welcoming both december19 and the7stars to our network is an exciting step towards embedding conscious decision-making deep within the media and advertising industry - from our media spending strategies to the content we’re sharing with our audiences.”