Four Havas agencies, Havas London, Havas Lemz, Havas New York and Havas Immerse, have had their B Corp status revoked following an investigation by B Corp after the holding company won Shell’s B2B media account in October last year. 

Other entities in the Havas group will no longer be eligible for the certification going forward.

The decision follows an official complaint to B Lab in October by activist group, Clean Creatives, and twenty-six B Corp-certified agencies. At the time, Havas global CEO, Yannick Bolloré, defended the decision to pitch for the account.

“While the Certified B Corps are not directly involved in providing services to the client, Havas’ structure and use of a common brand name across some of its agencies means that the entire group is ultimately required to earn certification, per B Lab rules; this places the group’s actions in scope for this investigation,” B Lab said in a statement.

“B Lab’s investigation followed our Public Complaint Process and resolved 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. Their agencies 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.”

Havas London was the first major agency to become B Corp certified (2018). In its B Impact assessment, it earned an overall score of 88.5. A score of 80 qualifies for B Corp Certification. The median score for businesses that complete the assessment is 50.9.

Havas New York’s overall B Impact score was 87.2, Lemz’ was 82.8 and Immerse’s was 80.4.