Four Havas agencies have had their B Corp certification revoked due to work with multinational oil company Shell.
B Lab UK conducted an investigation that found the French advertising group in breach of its “community’s core values as expressed in our Declaration of Interdependence.”
“While the Certified B Corps are not directly involved in providing services to the client, Havas’s structure, and use of a common brand name across some of its agencies, means that the entire group is ultimately required to earn certification,” the not-for-profit said in a statement in MediaPost.
The result of the investigation found that “suspension with remediation would be required for Havas to maintain certification.”
“Havas has cooperated throughout B Lab’s investigation and accepts the ruling; however, they have resolved not to adopt the remediation actions required to maintain certification.
“Havas London, Havas Lemz, Havas New York and Havas Immerse are no longer certified B Corps. Other entities in the Havas group are also ineligible to certify,” the statement concluded.
Havas has accepted the ruling. The company said in a statement on MediaPost: “Havas has cooperated in good faith throughout B Lab’s investigation, while simultaneously preserving the integrity of confidential client information. Whilst the investigation recognises that our certified agencies (Havas London, New York, Lemz and Immerse) do not have a relationship with Shell, we accept the ruling and they will cease to be B Corp certified.
The French company said that its “level of commitment towards sustainability remains unchanged as evidenced by Havas’ receipt of the Gold Medal by EcoVadis” earlier this month, its decarbonisation trajectory and deployment of the Havas Carbon Impact Calculator across its agencies
“We are proud to support our clients in their transformation for the future and remain focused on progressing towards the highest levels of social and environmental performance, with more to come in the coming months and years,” the company added.
This hit to Havas comes as Shell Energy pitches its creative account in Australia. However, it has not come without backlash from industry heavyweights like Darren Woolley, CEO of TrinityP3 Marketing Management Consultancy, who previously told Mediaweek: “fossil fuels are becoming the new tobacco.”
When news of the pitch circulated in March, he told Mediaweek: “I know the money will be good, but they’re [agencies that pitch] going to find it increasingly difficult to get people to work on that type of account.”
He added that the industry needs to be “very clear about the difference between working for a client and actively greenwashing the client’s claims.” And agencies pitching should not delude themselves if they think they can help the client “from the inside”.
“Any agency that is going for this business has to be very clear that they are going to be working with an organisation that is currently contributing huge amounts to the climate crisis.”
“They’re getting employed to help spin this to help their client. I’ve heard many agencies say they we’re working with them [the client] so that they can understand where the consumer is and do more to reduce and I go ‘yeah, right’.”
See also: ‘Like a tobacco account on your CV’: Woolley and Noble on Shell creative pitch