Fossil Free Media is a nonprofit media lab that supports the movement to end fossil fuels and confront the climate emergency. In 2024, as California battled a wave of devastating wildfires, the team behind Fossil Free Media and the Make Polluters Pay campaign knew they needed to respond quickly and support impacted communities. The question: how do you cut through the noise of disaster coverage and fossil fuel greenwashing to demand real corporate accountability?
They turned to Social Currant with a challenge: help creators — and their audiences — connect the dots between fossil fuel-driven climate disasters and the policy solutions that could make polluters pay.
Social Currant and Fossil Free Media designed a creator-led response that both went viral and sparked a movement-wide ripple effect.
The program launched with creator and climate communicator Lauren Bash, whose video blended wildfire imagery, compelling audio, and accessible storytelling to connect the destruction Californians were experiencing with Big Oil’s role in driving the crisis. Her content centered on California’s Superfund Bill, a first-of-its-kind proposal to hold oil companies financially accountable for climate damage.
The content focused on acknowledging the real harm being done to communities, while also emphasizing who the villains were. Lauren’s format, framing, and call to action were designed to be adaptable, enabling other creators to respond organically in their own voices, across platforms, and on their own timelines.
That approach worked. Lauren’s post sparked a broader wave of creator participation, including follow-up content from creators outside the original program. One standout example was Michael Mezzatesta, whose fire-related video built on the same narrative structure and further extended reach, demonstrating how creator-led storytelling can ripple across networks without direct coordination.
Building on this momentum, Fossil Free Media and Social Currant expanded the partnership into a multi-platform, long-term creator strategy that included:
The impact of this strategy was both immediate and enduring.
Lauren Bash’s initial video generated 17.5 million views and 1.48 million engagements, and was reposted, stitched, or amplified by dozens of creators and major accounts including Feminist, Chnge, and The Slow Factory. More importantly, it sparked a cascade of creator participation that extended the campaign far beyond its original scope.
As more creators shared stories of evacuation, loss, and resilience in the face of wildfires, the conversation shifted. No longer just about tragedy, the narrative became one of collective power: we can hold Big Oil accountable, and we can fight for policies that meet the scale of the crisis. This creator-led ecosystem helped Fossil Free Media turn moments of crisis into moments of action, while building a durable climate communications infrastructure rooted in trust, creativity, and cultural relevance.
As Fossil Free Media Digital Director Tejal shared:
“Working with Social Currant has been a game-changer for our digital presence — they genuinely understand how to connect organizations like ours with authentic creator voices. Their team takes initiative, handles all the small details with precision, and is incredibly easy to work with. They make influencer partnerships feel seamless and impactful.”
This partnership demonstrates the power of creator collaborations done right. They don’t just amplify movements, they help lead them.