Facebook Boycott: Hundreds of brands are pulling ads, but top advertisers aren’t among them.


But even as a steady beat of familiar names like The north face (VFC), Pfizer (PFE) and Levi Strauss (LEVI) have joined the campaign of pressure on the handling of hate speech and disinformation on the social network, the vast majority of Facebook (full board)The top advertisers, the ones that presumably have the most influence, have been silent.
A CNN Business analysis of top Facebook advertisers, based on data from market research firm Pathmatics, reveals that most of the top 100 ad spenders on the platform have not joined the boycott. The list of companies that have not yet stopped advertising on Facebook includes Walmart (WMT), American express (AXP) and House deposit (HD).
Of the 25 biggest spenders on Facebook ads last year, only three companies: Microsoft (MSFT), Starbucks (SBUX) and Pfizer (PFE) – They have publicly confirmed their plans to pause marketing on Facebook. Those top 25 businesses, according to the data, accounted for an estimated $ 2 billion in Facebook ad spending, or nearly 3% of Facebook’s revenue in 2019.

The data suggests that the ongoing boycott may have limited impact on Facebook’s bottom line, at least today. Even if Facebook’s top 100 advertisers were to join, they would represent just 6% of the company’s annual advertising revenue.

Last Friday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees: “I guess all of these advertisers will be back on the platform soon,” according to tech website The Information.

Facebook spokesman Tom Channick confirmed the accuracy of the comments to CNN Business. “We take these issues very seriously and respect our partners’ feedback. We are making real progress by keeping hate speech off our platform, and we are not benefiting from this type of content. But as we have said, we do policy changes based on principles, not income pressures, “added Channick.

Most of the biggest spenders have made no statement about it. Most of the top 25 brands did not respond to requests for comment from CNN Business, including Walmart, Uber, Netflix, Domino’s and American Express. AT&T, which owns WarnerMedia, the parent company of CNN, also has not made a public comment on its advertising plans on Facebook.

Some brands provided answers without obligation. Home Depot, the largest single Facebook advertiser in 2019 according to Pathmatics with $ 178.5 million spent on the platform, declined to say if it has made any changes. But, Home Depot said in a statement, it is evaluating the steps Zuckerberg said the platform would take during a live stream last week.

“Given the measures they just announced on Friday, we are looking at this very closely,” said Sara Gorman, a spokeswoman for Home Depot.

Procter & Gamble, the consumer goods giant and Facebook’s seventh largest advertiser with an estimated spend of $ 92.3 million last year, declined to comment on its plans for any specific advertising channel, but reiterated that it has released a “review integral “of its advertising partners. .

“When we determine that our standards are not being met, we will take action, to stop spending, just as we have done before,” Marc Pritchard, the company’s chief brand officer, said in remarks last week. Pritchard added that P&G does not advertise on thousands of sites because they do not meet company standards.

A Wells Fargo (WFC) The spokesperson said the company is “evaluating” its use of Facebook and will make a decision “that is better aligned with the needs of our customers.”

“We condemn fanaticism, racism and anti-Semitism and are pleased to see Facebook take the additional steps necessary to stop the use of hate speech on its platform,” the spokesperson said.

Uber (UBER), which did not respond to CNN Business questions about whether to join the boycott, announced a new ad campaign on Wednesday on television, social media and its app. The campaign is called “No mask. No Ride” and features its drivers and food delivery workers.

Facebook generated nearly $ 70 billion in advertising revenue last year, according to its financial statements, most of which comes from small and medium-sized businesses.

Zuckerberg agreed to join a meeting with the civil rights groups that organized the boycott to discuss their proposals for change, Andy Stone, a Facebook spokesman, confirmed to CNN Business on Wednesday.

“They asked about having Mark at the meeting, and we’ve since confirmed that Mark can join,” Stone said in a statement. “We are waiting for a response and we look forward to the opportunity to continue the dialogue.”

For now, at least, that dialogue will continue without the participation of many of the companies that Facebook and Zuckerberg could be more afraid of losing.

Editor’s Note: The original headline for this story – “These are the big brands that haven’t yet pulled Facebook ads” – has been revised to better reflect that, as the article points out, many of the top Facebook advertisers haven’t pulled ads, and the effectiveness of the boycott is limited as a result. Also, a The previous version of this article was wrong when Mark Zuckerberg commented on advertisers returning to the platform.

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