Clean Creatives is calling on B Lab to review the B Corp status of four agencies which it has found to have been working with fossil fuel clients.

The latest move comes in addition to its ongoing complaint about ad giant Havas, whose B Corp status is consequently under review over its link with Shell.

In the letter to B Lab – which has been seen by Marketing Beat – Clean Creatives executive founder Duncan Meisel notified the global non-profit of the findings, highlighting examples of communications it identified as being carried out on behalf of fossil fuel firms.

“The case for excluding fossil fuel agencies from B Corp certification could not be clearer,” Meisel said.

“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.”

The list includes Cullen Communications for its work on Irish gas company Applegreen, Edit for its work with Shell on direct marketing, Tinkle Communications for promoting Spanish oil major Repsol and Total Media, which has worked with gas distributor E.On.

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Since B Lab called for the review into Havas’ B Corp status in January, there have been protests outside the agency’s headquarters, including from Extinction Rebellion.

Good Agency CEO Chris Norman told Marketing Beat that the new evidence shows “the urgent need” for B Lab to set clear and unequivocal rules on B Corps working with fossil fuel companies.

“It shows that agencies are exploiting the certification and significantly undermining its value. B Lab needs to decertify these fossil fuel supporting agencies. B Lab needs to decertify these fossil fuel supporting agencies,” he continued.

Norman, whose agency has B Corp status, added that it had been “almost a year since we first raised the issue” and said “in that time these agencies have been actively greenwashing, lobbying and promoting fossil fuel companies while 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,” he added.

Just last month the UN Secretary General António Guterres called for a ban on fossil fuel ads, accusing the sector of “distorting the truth, distracting the public, and sowing doubt”.

Commenting to Marketing Beat on Clean Creatives findings Total Media said it “is committed to the values that B Corp stands for: to make business a force for good”.

It said it has reached its target of becoming carbon neutral three years before its goal of 2023.

It also added that it is “proud of its work with E.ON” and has published the partnership multiple times.

“Total Media believes in transparency and we welcome constructive discussion on how we all can drive and meet sustainability goals across the advertising industry.”

Featured image: protest outside Havas headquarters, credit: Extinction Rebellion