“The gentle art of persuading the public to believe that they want something they don’t need”, so a 1905 definition goes. Selling in 2019 is basically the same, except now there’s the added by-product – yay! – of hastening planetary self-combustion.

But what’s it actually like selling stuff you know is bad news? Can the ad industry – increasingly staffed by the eco-anxious, after all – use its dark arts to save the planet? And is Mad Men basically a documentary?

We natter to recovering ad man, and co-founder of The Comms Lab, Jonathan Wise, to find out.

Sustainababble is your friendly environment podcast, out weekly. Theme music by the legendary Dicky Moore – @dickymoo. Sustainababble logo by the splendid Arthur Stovell. Ecoguff read out by Arabella.

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