The Coca-Cola Company is pausing all digital advertising on social media platforms globally for at least 30 days starting July 1, the soft drink giant announced Friday night.
The move is part of a broader Facebook and Instagram boycott organized by the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP and other organizations called the “Stop Hate For Profit” campaign. Coca-Cola goes a step further than some of those companies and bans all ads globally on social media platforms, not just Facebook and Instagram. That would suggest that the boycott will also affect Twitter, YouTube, and other platforms.
“Starting July 1, The Coca-Cola Company will pause paid advertising on all social media platforms globally for at least 30 days,” the Coca-Cola Company CEO statement read, James Quincey, posted on the brand’s website. “We will take this time to reevaluate our advertising standards and policies to determine if internal reviews are needed and what else can we expect from our social media partners to eliminate hate, violence and inappropriate content platforms. We will let them know that we expect more responsibility, action and transparency from them. ”
Earlier today, Unilever joined Verizon as the two largest companies to have participated in the boycott prior to Coca-Cola’s involvement, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also announced a series of policy changes that, although not explicitly in In response to the boycott, they appear designed to address and address many of the criticisms the company has faced lately regarding its lack of restraint on violent threats, hate speech, and misinformation published by President Donald Trump and other accounts, and controversial pages.
“This continues a significant trend for major brands, including Unilever and Verizon, to commit to stopping Facebook ads for at least the month of July,” a Color for Change, a non-profit organization, read in a statement. progressive, one of the organizers of the boycott. “Since Color Of Change and its partners, including ADL and NAACP, launched the campaign on June 17, more than 100 brands have registered.” Color of Change President Rashad Robinson said Friday that Hershey’s chocolate brand will also join the boycott.
However, while the boycott may be creating a wave of bad press for Facebook and Instagram, even top advertisers who stop ad spending for a month are unlikely to have a substantial effect on Facebook’s bottom line, as the Most of the company’s advertising revenue comes from small and medium business response ads.
“We invest billions of dollars every year to keep our community safe and to continually work with outside experts to review and update our policies,” a Facebook spokesperson told NBC News earlier today in response to Unilever’s announcement. “We know we have more work to do, and we will continue to work with civil rights groups, GARM, and other experts to develop even more tools, technology, and policies to continue this fight.”
Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Coca-Cola’s decision.
The Stop Hate For Profit campaign launched last week, starting with popular sports and outdoor lifestyle brands like The North Face and Patagonia. Since then, it has gained traction with major American corporations after gaining the support of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream brand and movie distributor Magnolia Pictures. In an open letter published yesterday, the ADL provides more specific details about the changes the boycott seeks to bring about in Facebook’s policies and its moderation approach.
“Today, we call on all companies to stand in solidarity with our deepest American values of freedom, equality, and justice and not to advertise on Facebook services in July,” said a Stop Hate For Profit campaign ad in the Los Angeles Times earlier this week. “Let’s send Facebook a powerful message: it will never be worth promoting your profits out of hate, bigotry, racism, anti-Semitism and violence.”
