Activist group calls out B Corp agencies MSQ, Havas’ Tinkle & others for work with Big Oil

The agencies include Cullen Communications, which works with the Irish gas company Applegreen; Edit, which works with Shell on direct marketing; SEC Newgate, which lobbies on behalf of 10 different fossil fuel companies; Tinkle Communications (a Havas subsidiary), which promotes the Spanish oil major Repsol; and Total Media, which works with gas distributor E.On.

Additionally, a previously undisclosed relationship with British Gas has been discovered at the agency MSQ.

Duncan Meisel, executive director of Clean Creatives, also penned a letter to B Corp summarizing Clean Creatives’ latest findings. The letter, reviewed by The Drum, details the marketing efforts of these five agencies, which include “serious allegations of greenwashing, lobbying against climate action, and promotion of activities that would otherwise be prohibited for B Corps.”

Specific examples cited include Cullen Communications’ noted greenwashing for Applegreen, Edit’s efforts to encourage consumption of Shell’s fossil fuel projects, and SEC Newgate’s lobbying against national climate action.

B Lab, the organization responsible for B Corp certification – which signifies that a business meets high standards of social and environmental performance accountability and transparency – is now facing increasing pressure to act on these findings.

“The case for excluding fossil fuel agencies from B Corp certification could not be clearer,” said Meisel, in a statement shared with The Drum. “The work these B Corp agencies are doing for fossil fuel polluters includes greenwashing gas companies, direct lobbying on behalf of coal producers, and pushing consumers to buy more gasoline, all in direct contradiction to B Lab’s mission of protecting people and the planet. Decertifying fossil fuel agencies is vital to protecting the B Corp brand and strengthening the B Corp community.”

In October, B Lab faced an official complaint from Clean Creatives and 27 B Corp-certified ad agencies demanding the immediate removal of B Corp status from several agencies, including Havas, MSQ and Tam-Tam\TBWA, over their ties to the fossil fuel industry.

The document argued that working with high-polluter clients contradicts the core values of B Corp certification. The complaint was lodged in response to Havas winning Shell’s media account in September.

B Lab responded in January 2024, stating it would conduct a formal review process to investigate these claims: “B Lab received several complaints from a cross-section of stakeholders about a client in a controversial industry supported by Havas, which has several Certified B Corp subsidiaries (New York, London, Lemz, and Immerse).”

In June, UN Secretary-General António Guterres criticized major advertising and PR companies, including Dentsu, Edelman, Havas, Interpublic Group, Omnicom, Publicis and WPP, for their role in protecting the fossil fuel industry’s image, accusing them of greenwashing and spreading disinformation. He called the advertising and PR giants “enablers to planetary destruction,“ and urged a global ban on fossil fuel ads, asking news media and tech companies to stop accepting such advertisements.

Guterres’ address followed an Earth Day pledge launched by Clean Creatives, which garnered commitments from over 1,000 agencies to stop advertising for Big Oil brands.

The outcome of B Lab’s investigation has not yet been announced.

Rob Mayhew, named by The Drum as one of adland’s favorite social media stars, recently created a video on TikTok critiquing the extended duration of B Lab’s investigation into Havas’ B Corp status.

“This new evidence uncovered by Clean Creatives shows the urgent need for B Lab to set clear and unequivocal rules on B Corps working with fossil fuel companies,” added Chris Norma, founder and chief executive of Good Agency.

“It shows that agencies are exploiting the certification and significantly undermining its value. B Lab needs to decertify these fossil fuel supporting agencies. It has been almost a year since we first raised this issue, and in that time, these agencies have been actively greenwashing, lobbying and promoting fossil fuel companies whilst operating as a B Corp - giving them an ethical cloak to continue to do so ... As time continues to go by, it makes any B Corp agency seriously question the value of an accreditation from an organisation that is directly contradicting its main mission to protect people and the planet.”

Read the letter in full below.

Dear B Lab team,

In preparation for releasing our F-List report in September, Clean Creatives has been researching PR and ad agencies that work with fossil fuel companies across the globe.

In the past month, we have found a number of further examples of B Corp agencies working on behalf of fossil fuel polluters that we believe add important context to the previously filed complaint, and your standards review process. Rather than waiting until our report in September, I wanted to provide this information to you in a timely way so that it can be considered as part of your decision-making.

Our research has found another five B Corp Agencies working with fossil fuel clients in the past three years. A list, and footnotes with sources is below:

Cullen Communications has worked with the Irish gas company Applegreen (1)

Edit has worked with Shell on direct marketing (2)

SEC Newgate has lobbied on behalf of 10 different fossil fuel companies (3)

Tinkle Communications (Havas subsidiary) has promoted Spanish oil major Repsol (4)

Total Media works with gas distributor E.On (5)

In addition, we found another relationship with fossil fuels at the agency MSQ that was not included in the previous letter, with British Gas.(6)

The scope of the work we found involves serious allegations of greenwashing, lobbying against climate action, and promotion of activities that would otherwise be prohibited for B Corps. For example, Cullen Communications’ work for Applegreen was widely noted for its greenwashing, Edit is working to directly encourage more consumption of Shell’s fossil fuel projects, SEC Newgate is lobbying against national climate action - and so on.

I believe these examples of fossil fuel promotion greatly strengthen the case for action to enforce B Corp standards to exclude agencies working from fossil fuel clients.

We are grateful for your consideration of this issue, and of this new evidence. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if more documentation would be of use for your team.

Thank you,

Duncan Meisel

Executive Director, Clean Creatives

(1): https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/find-a-b-corp/company/cullen-communications/

https://x.com/IrishEVs/status/1494015942740881410

https://x.com/IrishEVs/status/1333045138579476481

https://www.facebook.com/CullenCommunications/posts/5581795575233333/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZg3Nd2syRd/

(2): https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/find-a-b-corp/company/edit-agency-limited/

https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/edit-wins-crm-account-shell-global-fleet-solutions/

https://www.moreaboutadvertising.com/2019/03/re-born-st-ives-offshoot-edit-wins-shell-crm/

https://www.d5capital.com/deals/trillium-partners-advises-the-salocin-group-on-the-acquisition-of-edit-and-associated-institutional-fund-raising

(3): https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/find-a-b-corp/company/s-e-c-newgate-u-k/

These clients include:

APA Group - https://lobbyists.integrity.qld.gov.au/Lobbying-Register/view-entity/?id=5d8d2ed8-ecfa-ed11-8f6e-002248e232df

BHP - https://www.lobbyists.wa.gov.au/searchdetails/?id=2980f900-f150-ec11-8f8e-00224815abe9

Cadent Gas - https://register.prca.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/register-16.pdf

Chevron - https://lobbyists.ag.gov.au/organisation/ca20c102-6506-ed11-a98b-0050569fd942/profile

Coalpac - https://lobbyists.elections.nsw.gov.au/whoisontheregister

Engie - https://register.prca.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/register-16.pdf

Fuels Europe - https://www.lobbyfacts.eu/datacard/european-petroleum-industry-association?rid=26207914726-42

Malabar Coal - https://lobbyists.elections.nsw.gov.au/whoisontheregister

South3 - https://www.lobbyists.wa.gov.au/searchdetails/?id=2980f900-f150-ec11-8f8e-00224815abe9

Whitehaven Coal - https://lobbyists.elections.nsw.gov.au/whoisontheregister

(4): https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/find-a-b-corp/company/tinkle-communications/

https://www.havas.com/press_release/havas-group-strengthens-its-presence-in-spain-and-portugal-with-tinkle/

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oBKuOVOfzm8Qjbby3WxGSVmMAmnRX5J_/view?usp=share_link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nQR0dzaj9DMhMT41JBxbJM41B_twxkTR/view?usp=share_link

(5): https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/find-a-b-corp/company/total-media-group-ltd/

https://web.archive.org/web/20231130033840/https://www.totalmedia.co.uk/agency/total-media-wins-e-on-uk

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/total-media_eon-picks-media-agency-to-take-over-from-activity-7130143039095758848-CBvJ/

(6): https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/find-a-b-corp/company/msq-partners/

https://www.prweek.com/article/1862182/british-gas-taps-consumer-pr-agency

https://web.archive.org/web/20240524231630/https://smarts.agency

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