Ben & Jerry co-founders Ben Cohen (L) and Jerry Greenfield (R) serve ice cream after a press conference announcing a new flavor, Justice Remix’d, September 3, 2019 in Washington, DC.
Win McNamee | fake pictures
Ben & Jerry’s said Tuesday that it will stop all paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram in the United States beginning July 1, joining the “#StopHateForProfit” campaign.
Last week, a group of six organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Sleeping Giants and Color of Change, asked Facebook advertisers to stop spending on the platform. social networks during the month of July. They ask big brands “to show that they will not support a company that puts profits above safety.”
Patagonia, The North Face, REI, Upwork and others have said they will follow suit.
“Ben & Jerry’s is with our friends at NAACP and Color of Change, ADL, and all who ask that Facebook take more vigorous action to prevent their platforms from being used to divide our nation, suppress voters, encourage and fan the flames of racism and violence and undermine our democracy, “the Unilever-owned ice cream maker said in a blog post.
Ben & Jerry’s campaign has produced a set of recommendations for Facebook. The group wants the company to create a “separate moderation channel” for users who say they have been targeted due to characteristics such as their race or religion and that allow advertisers to see how often their ads appeared “along with content that would later it was removed for disinformation or hatred. ”
Ben & Jerry’s said it is asking Facebook “to take the clear and unambiguous actions required by the campaign to prevent its platform from being used to spread and amplify racism and hatred.” Ben & Jerry’s, which has locations around the world, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it spends substantially outside the US. USA
Canadian outdoor brand Arc’teryx said Tuesday it was pausing global advertising on Facebook and Instagram and “donating those dollars to build more inclusive outdoors.”
Eddie Bauer made a similar statement Tuesday.
In early June, following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer, Ben & Jerry’s, several policy proposals calling for fair justice were put forward, including the creation of a national task force to draft bipartisan legislation to stop racial violence and control police power.
“What happened to George Floyd was not the result of a bad apple; it was the predictable consequence of a racist and prejudiced system and culture that has treated black bodies as enemies from the start,” said the previous statement.
Unilever did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Ben & Jerry’s announcement. A company executive told the Wall Street Journal this week that he was not prepared to take such drastic action against Facebook. “Walking away is not the solution at this stage,” said the Unilever executive.
CLOCK: FB’s advertising boycott won’t move its needle, says Gene Munster of Loup Ventures
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