Facebook faces a growing boycott by advertisers unhappy with its handling of disinformation and hate speech, including its laissez-faire attitude toward recent posts by President Trump.
The effort gained steam in early June amid pressure from civil rights organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of People of Color and the Anti-Defamation League. Color of Change, one of the groups supporting the boycott, said nearly 100 advertisers have joined.
Many of the participants are small businesses, which make up the bulk of Facebook’s eight million advertisers. But recently, several large companies that spend millions of dollars a year on the platform have also drifted apart.
Facebook spends billions of dollars a year to keep its platforms safe and works with outside experts to review and update its policies, the company said in a statement on Friday. But he added, “We know we have more work to do.”
Here is a list of some of the top advertisers who are limiting or stopping their advertising on Facebook, with estimates of what they spent last year in the United States from the advertising analytics platform Pathmatics.
Unilever
$ 42.4 million in advertising
The consumer goods giant, one of the world’s largest advertisers, said on Friday it would stop running ads on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter in the United States for at least the rest of 2020, citing a “polarized election period.” . The company, which owns brands like Dove and Lipton, said that “continuing to advertise on these platforms at this time would not add value to people and society.” Ben & Jerry’s, a company-owned ice cream brand, said Tuesday it would join the boycott.
Honda America
$ 6 million
The automaker, which includes the Honda and Acura brands, said on Friday it would retain Facebook and Instagram ads in July, “choosing to support people united against hate and racism.”
Birchbox
$ 947,100
The beauty subscription service said on Friday it would shift advertising spending in July from Facebook and Instagram to other platforms and individual content creators, after steadily reducing its reliance on the social media giant in the past two years. Birchbox said she would continue to be active on her Instagram account.
Verizon
$ 22.9 million
John Nitti, media director for the telecommunications company, said in a statement Thursday that he was “pausing our advertising until Facebook can create an acceptable solution that makes us comfortable and is consistent with what we have done with YouTube and other partners. . “Verizon is stopping both paid ads and unpaid posts.
Eddie Bauer
$ 1.4 million
The retailer said Tuesday it would suspend paid ads on Facebook and Instagram until July.
Patagonia
$ 6.2 million
The outdoor products company said Sunday it would immediately remove Facebook and Instagram ads until at least the end of July, “pending significant action from the social media giant.” The retailer will continue to post unpaid content on Facebook, which it said is its second-largest paid advertising platform.
REI
$ 22.5 million
The retailer said June 19 that it was removing all Facebook and Instagram advertising in July.
The north face
$ 3.3 million
“We are in. We are out,” the retailer wrote on Twitter on June 19, saying he will stop posting content and buying Facebook ads until July, but will continue to post free posts on Instagram. The company spends more on Facebook than on any other platform besides Google.
