Behind the B-Corp facade of Havas.

This bizarre (and 100% true) story would make a genius Netflix series.

The main character is Yannick Bolloré, billionaire’s son and director of the world’s fourth-largest advertising agency, Havas. It’s his greenwashing toy, that ‘climate-conscious’ B-Corp Havas... which oddly enough eagerly embraced the Shell account last year.

Slowly, the viewer discovers that the immense Bolloré Dynasty has close ties and significant financial interests in the oil industry. Including juicy corruption: bribes with shares and interference in the fraudulent elections of Togo, all spiced up with democratic PR from the friendly, world-saving Havas of Yannick, which also has major interests in Africa - protected at any cost.

The president’s half-brother was also on the payroll there, for 8500 euros a month, but no one has ever seen him at Havas. Super creative. Not only cheating big time, but also subtly undermining democracy, a nice evil B-plot that nicely exposes how the billion-dollar interests of the Bolloré Group in Africa are closely intertwined.

Yannick Bolloré is well aware that his family is deforesting Africa for palm oil plantations, where children learn to work. It’s pretty bad that a French party brought this up in parliament, but luckily the Bollorés have their own French TV channel, Canal+, and instruct the presenters and guests of C8 to seriously blacken that leftist scum. The malicious setup works, but the 3.5 million fine makes them laugh.

A dramatic twist seems to come when Yannick Bolloré has to justify his Shell account at his headquarters. The beautiful scene with stunned and outraged employees, described in the article below, could be filmed just as it is.

With (spoiler alert!) the anticlimax that the creatives nevertheless return to the chaos of the day. The diligent minions of overconsumption and shameless greenwashing remain apathetic, washing down their cognitive dissonance with a politically correct oat milk latte. Better cowardly than unemployed, right?

The subplot with the journalist uncovering the truth is also cool. Havas creatives and managers only want to respond anonymously, but will they remain so?

Reality once again proves stranger than fiction. Future reviews speak volumes: “Sharp as a knife, it shows how the marauding 1% have-it-alls secretly run, cheat, loot, and bribe everything with a cheerful B-corp sticker. Of which the B then means Bolloré.” (The Guardian)

“Not only a great drama, but also a dark comedy and educational as well. Andrew Garfield plays a fantastic Yannick Bolloré.” (Le Monde)

And in the Volkskrant: “The idea that commercial corporations are going to save the world is laughable anyway. Beating your chest with a light green client or edge and meanwhile just grabbing everything - like there is no tomorrow.”

No. Tomorrow. Is also the title of the last episode, but it will still be festive. While the world’s population is decimated by climate disasters, hunger, wars, and zoonoses, the cheerful, ever-ignoring advertising orchestra keeps playing until the last breath. Even if no light is burning anywhere anymore.

Disclaimer: Because the tentacles and deep pockets of the Bolloré family will prevent this series from ever being made. Too bad. Wanna know more details? We still have this exciting article! Take some time this weekend, grab an oat milk latte or an organic Burgundy… (well done!) and let yourself be taken in by Madmen in their B-Corp Sequel.

Link to the original article that inspired my piece, on desmog.com, THX to Geoff Dembicki, Dana Drugmand, Emily Gertz, @Ali Lyon and @Isobel Moseley for your outstanding research which inspired me.

Nice audiovisual extras on Desmog: The TikTok parody of Havas’ PR Manager and Yannick shamelessly in Cannes.

Clean Creatives

Other sources used in this article:

• Greenpeace on Bolloré Group’s investment in plantations in Africa
• WRM on Socfin’s plantations in Africa
• RTL on Hanouna-Boyard case
• Asso Sherpa on palm oil in Cameroon
• Les Inrocks on Bolloré's use of legal harassment to silence journalists