The Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the main U.S. advertising trade association, is under fire from climate campaigners after naming a senior Shell executive as its new chair.

The appointment of Dean Aragón, CEO of Shell Brands, comes as the global oil and gas company has scaled back its climate commitments over the last two years, dropping plans to reduce oil production and scrapping a key 2035 emissions target.

Climate campaigners say the move, which was first reported by Adweek, raises questions about the ANA’s commitment to climate pledges forged prior to the Trump administration’s moves to gut climate policies and aggressively expand fossil fuels.

The role of ANA chair confers a prominent voice on ad industry issues.

“The ANA is made up of companies whose business models are fundamentally threatened by climate change, which is caused by Shell’s products — from Piedmont Healthcare and the American Heart Association dealing with diseases caused by extreme heat, or Mars and Anheuser-Busch struggling with higher commodity prices caused by flood and drought,” said Duncan Meisel, director of Clean Creatives, an organisation that works to cut ties between advertising agencies and the fossil fuels industry 

“Shell has recommitted to producing more oil and gas, and less clean energy. Their marketing has been the subject of lawsuits, regulatory action, and widespread consumer backlash across the world. Appointing the CEO of Shell’s marketing as chair is a guarantee of the ANA losing credibility in the eyes of regulators and organisations with sustainability agendas worldwide,” Meisel told DeSmog.

Aragón is the CEO and vice-chairman of Shell Brands International AG — a Shell subsidiary that develops and protects the Shell trademark, for licencing to Shell companies and third parties, according to the Conference Board.

He is also global vice-president of branding for the entire Shell group, leading the development of overall brand strategy, brand policies and standards.

Aragón replaces Marc Pritchard, chief brand officer at Proctor & Gamble, who had led the ANA since 2016.

The ANA was a founding member of Ad Net Zero USA, an initiative launched in 2023 during the previous Biden administration to “decarbonise advertising operations” — meaning reducing the amount of emissions generated by producing and displaying adverts. At the time, ANA CEO Bob Liodice called the reduction and measurement of carbon “a top priority for our industry.”

The ANA published research last year showing major brands reduced their operational emissions by as much as 38 percent by using sustainable media planning. The ANA represents brands that spend more than $400 billion annually in marketing and advertising, according to figures on the ANA’s website.

The ANA and Shell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.