Havas agencies lose B Corp status
Four Havas agencies have lost their B Corp status following the holding group’s global Shell win last year.
B Lab is the non-profit body responsible for B Corp certifications. After an investigation following complaints, it concluded that Havas London, Havas Lemz, Havas New York and Havas Immerse would no longer be certified and that other entities within Havas were “also ineligible to certify”.
A B Corp certification requires companies to provide evidence of high standards of social and environmental performance, along with accountability and transparency, on an annual basis and to apply to re-certify every three years.
In a statement, Havas said: “Havas has co-operated 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.
“Our level of commitment towards sustainability remains unchanged, as evidenced by Havas’ receipt of the Gold Medal by EcoVadis — the world’s most trusted provider of business sustainability ratings — earlier this month, the validation of our decarbonisation trajectory by the Science Based Targets initiative in March 2023 and the deployment of the Havas Carbon Impact Calculator across all our agencies to promote eco-designed solutions.
“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.”
Analysis: Change from the inside
It’s worth noting that Havas is not the only media agency group to have fossil-fuel clients. While those advertisers may not be listed on official websites, groups like Clean Creatives and Greenpeace have often called out the media and advertising industry for working with oil and petrol companies, including protests at the 2022 Cannes Lions opening ceremony and disclosing lists of agencies working with such organisations.
Earlier this year, United Nations secretary-general António Guterres became the most high-profile public official to call for a worldwide ban on fossil-fuel advertising, comparing fossil-fuel companies to the tobacco industry and calling them “godfathers of climate chaos”.
“Many governments restrict or prohibit advertising for products that harm human health, like tobacco,” Guterres said. “I urge every country to ban advertising from fossil-fuel companies. And I urge news media and tech companies to stop taking fossil-fuel advertising.”
Havas won Shell’s global media account in September 2023, prompting condemnation from climate activists and parts of the media industry who then called for the group to lose its B Corp status.
PR agency Havas Red lost The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative as a client following the Shell victory.
Yannick Bolloré reveals what’s next for media, Havas, and avoiding ‘greenwashing’ for Shell
Yannick Bolloré, chairman and CEO of Vivendi, which owns Havas, told delegates at The Future of Media conference the following month that he “fully endorsed” the decision of the group and that the company had discussions about the pros and cons around Shell when they were invited to pitch.
In an interview with editor-in-chief Omar Oakes, Bolloré said it raised the question of not just working with one company, but how to work with clients from a spread of “controversial industries” like pharmaceuticals, automotive or aviation.
Bolloré emphasised both media companies and advertising groups “have a responsibility” to use their power and ability to influence people’s behaviour “for good”.
He added: “In general, the most effective change comes from within. I believe that in our industry, as in any industry, as in any diplomatic relationship between countries, even if it’s hard, we need to keep the dialogue open and my belief is that our industry should be able to work with any industry as long as — and this is important — they are themselves on a meaningful transition journey.”
Bolloré said the team would be scrutinising the account to make sure they do no participate in any greenwashing, for which Havas has a policy.
In conversation close to the time of the Shell account win, Hannah Mirza, founder of the Responsible Marketing Agency and columnist for The Media Leader, said Havas “must have been comfortable” with losing its B Corp status, as certified companies cannot have fossil-fuel clients.
“I think they’ve chosen revenue over ethics and integrity, unfortunately,” she said. “It’s a tricky one. I know people who work in that sector and they work in sustainability and they say: ‘I want to make the change from the inside.’ I know people who feel that that’s the only way these companies will change — by having that drive to work with them and influence them and drive strategy from a sustainability perspective.
“But I think the challenge with the advertising of a company like Shell is that [renewables are a] micro portion of the entire business — but you only really get exposed to the positive messaging they want to put out, in a business that is under pressure.”
Mirza noted that other oil companies will be observing to decide on their next steps.
In the same podcast interview, Anne Coghlan, chief operating officer at Scope3, highlighted that over time more people, especially from Gen Z, will be coming into the industry and will not want to work on these accounts.
Mirza concluded: “It’s going to be really tricky and I hope they find the people that are the positive agitators and use that opportunity to really — as best as possible because it’s a behemoth — influence more change and more sustainability and more renewables from companies like that.”