Havas Media’s First Shell Campaign Is Under Investigation for Greenwashing

More than 70 people have filed complaints with ad watchdog the U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority claiming a recent Shell ad is guilty of greenwashing.

The spot is part of the first campaign that Shell’s media agency Havas Media worked on for the oil giant since winning the account in September 2023, following months of climate activists protesting against the agencies who pitched to win the business.

The TV ad, part of a years-long strategy and campaign called “Powering Progress,” was created by creative agency VML, whose work for the oil firm has previously come under fire from the ASA. These recent complaints argue that the ad gives a misleading impression of Shell’s environmental impact, the ASA said.

VML will be listed in the ruling, which an ASA spokesperson said won’t be ready to publish for at least a couple of months. Havas likely won’t be named in the ruling, as media buying falls outside the ASA’s focus.

But as the media agency of record for Shell, Havas Media was responsible for getting the campaign’s main spot and related content onto TV screens, into social feeds, and onto websites—anywhere its target audience has eyeballs. Havas was not involved in the creative direction of the ad.

Last October, following the account win, Havas CEO and chair Yannick Bolloré told Campaign that it won’t participate in any greenwashing.

“It is embarrassing that Havas have been unable to make a ‘meaningful difference,’” said one Havas employee, referencing the wording Bolloré used in the campaign interview about Shell. “VML will take the heat, but [in my opinion, Havas Media is] complicit.”

Havas has already paid a price for taking on Shell’s business. In July, B Lab stripped four Havas agencies—Havas London, Havas Lemz, Havas New York, and Havas Immerse—of their B Corp certifications because of the Shell contract.

Havas Media declined to comment for this story. VML and Shell did not respond to ADWEEK’s request for comment.

The 30-second ad in question features a woman engineer talking about installing EV chargers, piping gas from offshore rigs into people’s kitchens, building skills for the energy transition, and powering the U.K. into the future.