Stripping Havas of B Corp status "too late" for some?
Havas, the global media behemoth, has been stripped of its B Corp status. The decision follows an overly-long investigation into the Group whose media buying division signed a contract in 2023 to manage the advertising of Shell – a company that plans to grow its fossil gas business by 20%.
B Lab – the organisation that overseas B Corp certifications – ruled that Havas broke the terms and conditions of the code to which it signed up to, and as such has revoked its accreditation.
Championing the ‘go good’ cause for the creative sector
Havas was once hailed as a pioneer of the B Corp movement when in 2018 it became the first major advertising company in the UK to become certified. But the moment it announced the deal with Shell in late 2023, the creative sector went into meltdown.
B Labs announced in January that a 90-day investigation would take place, but the results were then delayed by a further 90 days. This week’s decision comes nine months after B Labs was made aware of Havas’s involvement with Shell.
B Corp values dropped like a hat in favour of big bucks
During the investigation, Havas is said to have cooperated fully with the process and B Labs set out certain conditions that if the company were to meet they would retain their B Corp status. Yet Havas opted against doing so in favour of retaining their contract with Shell.
A statement from B Labs reads:
“B Lab’s investigation… resolved that suspension with remediation would be required for Havas to maintain certification.
“Havas has cooperated throughout B Lab’s investigation and accepts the ruling; however, they have resolved not to adopt the remediation actions required to maintain certification.”
That final sentence is telling.
This is the perfect example of a company seeking B Corp status to ‘look good’ to their clients rather than actually ‘doing good.’ And they’re not alone.
Indeed, in 2022, Clearly surveyed 811 companies who all have an ESG policy in place. More than half (52%) of UK businesses polled (who said they wanted to become a gold standard green company – or Certified B Corporation) admitted that the number one reason for bringing in such Environmental Social and Governance policies would be to impress their customers.
As well as the confession that improving public perception of their brand came ahead of showing their commitment to people and planet (45%), just under a third (28%) admitted they would only adopt ESG measures to raise their profile as an employer of choice while one in five (22%) said they would do it just to drive profits and sales.
- Number 1 reason for implementing ESG policies: to drive brand awareness and influence customer purchasing.
- Number 2 reason: to be a better and more responsible business.
- Number 3 reason: to better compete in the war for talent.
- Number 4 reason: to boost sales and profits.
B Labs “too slow” to act decisively (and protect B Corp reputation)?
Regrettably, this isn’t the first time that B Labs has come under scrutiny over the way in which it investigates serious issues regarding its certified members. The investigation into BrewDog also took the best part of one year despite overwhelming evidence of the brewer’s greenwashing.
In a statement at the time, Chris Turner, Executive Director at B Lab UK, said:
We’ve learnt from the BrewDog investigation and the feedback we’ve received that our investigations must be accelerated. We’re working with B Lab Global to improve the pace of our processes, mindful of our resource constraints and competing priorities during this period of rapid growth. And importantly, we’ve recognised that we must communicate this process and the progress of individual investigations more proactively and with more clarity.
There is the suggestion that the rapid growth of the movement means that B Labs simply cannot keep pace with the number of issues it faces from those accusing certified businesses of greenwashing or other wrong doings, and that the staggering rise in applications by businesses seeking B Corp status has taken priority over everything else.
But that is a concern. Investigations cost B Labs money, whilst certifications make them money. Focusing on revenue and generating activities does make sense, after all B Labs is a business that needs to make money to sustain itself like all of us.
However, failing to address the issues that arise from the likes of Havas and BrewDog in a timely manner and not doing enough to placate a seemingly growing number of B Corp detractors will hurt B Labs in the long term if people begin to devalue the accreditation. And as we have seen over the last 12 months, the aspiration to achieve B Corp status is phenomenal right now.
Indeed, November 2023, B Labs celebrated their 1,000th certified business in the UK. By April this year, that number had doubled to 2,000. Today, there are almost 3,000 (2,807 to be precise).
The movement shows no sign of slowing down, it is in fact accelerating at pace. But B Labs finds itself under increasing pressure to ensure its accreditation process is robust or else risk losing its own reputation as the champion of responsible business practice.
You may like to read:
New B Corp? The media doesn’t want to know. Unless…
Video: How to avoid ‘Greenwasher’ accusations
VIDEO SERIES: Mastering your ESG communications
