Havas won Shell’s media account last week. A huge win for Havas (US$27m). A smack in the face for the section of the industry working to protect the planet. Activist group, Clean Creatives, and twenty-six B Corp-certified agencies submitted an official complaint to B Lab.

The group then asked B Lab to update its certification eligibility rules, to disqualify advertising and PR agencies that work with fossil fuel clients. Four Havas subsidiaries, Havas London, Havas New York, Lemz and Immerse are currently B Corp certified and it is in the process of getting the rest of its UK businesses certified.

At present, B Lab does not stipulate the industries that B Corp certified businesses cannot work with. But if their clients, or clients of their subsidiaries, work in fossil fuels, defence, firearms, gambling, hazardous materials, pornography, prisons or tobacco industries, their eligibility for certification can be reviewed. To maintain certification, too, Certified B Corps must update their B Impact Assessment (BIA) and verify their updated B Impact score every three years, or after a change of control of company ownership or an IPO.  

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.