When an Agency Should Refuse a Project
Use a written project screen for false claims, rights, legal and ethical risk, conflicts, delivery capacity, decision access, scope, deadlines, and a clear decline or reset.
An agency should say no to work it cannot do in a lawful, honest, safe, or good way. Some other projects are not wrong. They are just not ready yet. A written screen helps the agency choose. It can turn the work down, put it on hold, or reset it. The screen gets that answer on paper first. Sales pressure then has less room to shape it.
Start With a Project Screen
What is the real goal, user, decision, scope, owner, budget, and date?
Which claims, data, rights, laws, rules, and sign offs touch the work?
Does the agency have the skill, room, access, and review time it needs?
Is there a conflict, a hidden party, an unsafe use, or unclear money?
What would make the project safe and ready? Who can approve that change?
Decline Non-Negotiable Risk
Advertising claims that are false, unfair, deceptive, or unsupported.
Copying work that is protected. Using assets without clear rights.
A request to hide a key fact, a sponsor, a limit, or a relationship.
Work aimed at harm, unlawful use, abuse, or a known conflict.
A delivery promise the team knows it cannot meet.
The agency should not judge the law on its own. It should flag the issue. It should keep a clear record. Where needed, it should ask the client to get a qualified review. A disclaimer cannot fix a false claim. It cannot create a right the client does not hold.
Reset Work That Is Merely Unready
Narrow the first release, or move the delivery date.
Replace a claim with one that has approved evidence behind it.
Add an owner for choices. Give access to the right staff.
Clear rights, data, security, privacy, or buying steps before you build.
Split discovery from delivery. Set a stop point for each one.
Make the Decision Fair
Use the same screen for every lead. Keep protected traits and personal taste out of the choice. State the project facts, the policy, the gap, and the next safe path. Does the agency send the work to someone else? If so, it should say whether a fee or a relationship exists.
Record and Communicate the Answer
Name the decision, the date, the owner, the facts, and the missing evidence.
State whether the answer is decline, pause, or reset.
Give a short reason. Do not expose private information.
List any safe next step, and when the agency may review it again.
Keep the record under the agreed rules for storage and access.
Want a fair buying process? Read What Most RFPs Get Wrong. For a hands on partner screen, read How to Vet a Software Development Company.
The Short Answer
Say no to work that cannot be done in a lawful, honest, safe, or good way. Put work on hold, or reset it, when it can still get ready. Use a written screen, steady review, clear records, and a kind answer. A refusal policy cannot remove every legal, delivery, or brand risk.
Need a project acceptance screen?
TTGC can map the goal, claims, rights, risks, capacity, access, owners, readiness fixes, records, and stop rules. Qualified legal review remains with the right adviser.
Sources
- U.S. Federal Trade Commission: Advertising and Marketing. https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/advertising-marketing
- U.S. Copyright Office: What Is Copyright? https://www.copyright.gov/what-is-copyright/
