With top 100 brands contributing only an estimated 6% of Facebook's revenue and Zuckerberg's voting control over the company, ad boycott's impact may be limited
Facebook held a cross-team meeting *within 24 hours* of just the boycott's announcement to discuss how to handle it. https://twitter.com/... Bob Pickard / @bobpickard : This ‘PR ploy’ conjecture about the calculation of companies suddenly jumping on the @Facebook ad boycott bandwagon strikes me as more than slightly plausible. Via today's @ReliableSources newsletter: https://view.newsletters.cnn.com/ ... https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Mustapha Hamoui / @beirutspring : Imagine zuckerburg going all “no soup for you” and permanently banning boycotting companies from advertising with facebook again. I wonder if this will stop the boycott snowball right in its tracks... https://twitter.com/... Buffy Wicks / @buffywicks : “Boycotting in general is not the way for us to make progress together. We set our policies based on principles rather than business interests.” -@ceverson of Facebook Then, please, prove it. Start by picking a better set of principles. #StopHateForProfit https://www.cnbc.com/... Jason Kint / @jason_kint : If citizens are asking how they can support #StopHateForProfit now that 100+ advertisers have pulled their funding of Facebook/Instagram for at least July, the simple answer is to support these advertisers publicly and also take a break, delete Facebook's apps yourself for July. https://twitter.com/... @chrisinsilico : Facebook faces a moment of reckoning. It will learn that without money from advertisers it is not all powerful. Coca-Cola, Unilever, Verizon, Honda - and more to come - no longer want to subsidize a platform that amplifies hate speech and disinformation. https://www.cnbc.com/... Robert Vinet / @robertvinet : @Techmeme @b_fung Hopefully the smaller companies will do the right thing and join the boycott. @chrisinsilico : These are high value advertisers still on Facebook: @ProcterGamble @Walmart @Target @amazon @Microsoft @BestBuy @GeneralMills @KelloggsUS @pepsico 1) Retweet this. 2) DM the brands. Encourage them to do the right thing and withdraw their advertising for #StopHateForProfit https://twitter.com/... Sara Eisen / @saraeisen : To be clear Coke isn't officially joining the boycott... it's pausing ads on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Snapchat to reassess. https://twitter.com/... Mark Horsley / @markhorsleyuk : ZUCKERBERG IS WORRIED As more and more advertisers boycott Facebook, he now says he will “ban ads that claim people from groups based on race, religion, sexual orientation or immigration status are a threat to physical safety or health.” So they were allowed before...?!? https://twitter.com/... Marietje Schaake / @marietjeschaake : After having had all the freedom in the world to do so, and democratic governments having squandered the opportunity to make the rule of law leading in speech online, the core business of Facebook: advertising, shows money talks as boycotts lead to a step to #StopHateForProfit ↘️ https://twitter.com/... Ian Betteridge / @ianbetteridge : The question really should be what the hell were they doing accepting ads which included hate speech in the first place. What goes through someone's mind to do that? https://www.cnbc.com/... See also Mediagazer
CNNBrian Fung
Context & Ripple Effects
The Stop Hate for Profit wave began with [[a:955123|brands quietly keeping their Instagram and Audience Network spend running even as they pulled Facebook feed dollars]], which set up the central question this piece answers: does the boycott actually cost Facebook anything? CNN's math says no — the top 100 brands are an estimated 6% of revenue — while Zuckerberg's voting control means no shareholder revolt can force a policy reversal either.
What the boycott has already changed is tempo, not treasury: Facebook convened a cross-team response within 24 hours of the announcement, and Coca-Cola paused ads across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Snapchat to reassess its whole social strategy rather than target one platform.
First-order effects
Facebook's immediate exposure is reputational, not financial — with the top 100 brands at an estimated 6% of revenue, even a full walkout by that cohort leaves the long tail of small advertisers funding the business, and Zuckerberg's voting control shields policy from boardroom pressure.
Second-order effects
The boycott's real leverage shows in who stays out: among the top 25 advertisers from 2019, only Microsoft, Starbucks and Pfizer paused spending, while Disney kept spending heavily enough to be Facebook's top advertiser — so rivals' participation becomes a brand-positioning decision, with laggards like Hollywood exposed by comparison.
Third-order effects
The pattern points toward advertiser activism as recurring theater rather than structural constraint on large platforms: as later analysis showed, [[a:961318|of the 60 biggest brands that paused in 2020 only around ten stayed out, some shifting spend to other Facebook tools instead]] — pressure campaigns that reshape announcements more than business models.
The trend: Brand boycotts are emerging as a periodic reputational lever against social platforms whose long-tail ad revenue and founder control blunt the financial bite.
This big-advertiser boycott of FB is kind of interesting, but worth remembering that something like 75% of Facebook advertising is from SMEs. They may not look at this the same way.
“[Brand] has decided to stop spending $ on Facebook and Instagram. (And we will instead divert the $ to Google/YouTube.)” is the new “[Brand] has decided to stop spending $ on Facebook. (And we will instead divert the $ to Instagram.)”
Nick Clegg on @CNN defending @Facebook on how they deal with hate and divisive speech. Hasn't changed his tactics, talks non stop, deflects and doesn't answer the questions over the extremely serious issue he's being asked about.
To anyone wondering, ‘Where do I put my ad dollars now?’ Here's a novel idea: How about local newspapers? How about supporting people who are working day and night w/a skeleton crew and a shoestring budget to cover news in their communities? Imagine that. https://twitter.com/...
More than 90 brands are halting advertising on Facebook in July in a campaign to force the company to crack down on harmful content. Unilever is going further by doing so “through the end of the year” and extending its boycott to Twitter. https://www.npr.org/...
Advertising is one of the first things companies cut in a financial downturn. I do wonder how much these pledges by major firms to stop advertising on social media is part of cost cutting conveniently linked to a moral high ground. I guess time will tell https://www.cnbc.com/...
I've appreciated the thoughtful conversations I've had with the Duke and Duchess. Even more, I appreciate that they are using their platform to reach out to key corporations and share the goals of the #StopHateForProfit campaign. https://www.axios.com/...
Dose of realism to @Facebook ad boycott. Big brands make headlines, small businesses spend money. HT: @b_fung https://edition.cnn.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Three weeks ago, this was a barely-hatched idea. Now, 150+ companies have decided to stop advertising spending on Facebook for at least a month and British royalty is helping make it happen. 2020, you sure are something. #StopHateForProfit https://www.axios.com/...
Thank you for embodying the kind of leadership that meets the moment. The @NAACP deeply value your unwavering support to #StopHateForProfit https://www.axios.com/...
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been privately advocating for the #stophateforprofit campaign, which includes a boycott of Facebook, according to multiple sources working closely with the couple. https://www.axios.com/...
Thank you to the Duke & Duchess of Sussex for their dedication to ending #hate online. Especially during this important moment in the fight for justice, we need leaders to speak up like this & #stophateforprofit. https://www.axios.com/...
We are grateful for the leadership of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in recognizing the importance of solidarity in this moment. Your commitment to truth, justice, and equality are appreciated. #StopHateforProfit https://www.axios.com/...
Still can't believe this. What a thing! Bravo #StopHateForProfit. And an even bigger bravo to @slpng_giants, the power behind it. (With special mentions among others to @Moonalice & @JGreenblattADL) What a week! Take a bow. You've earned it 👏👏👏 https://www.axios.com/...
This wish fundamentally doesn't understand why advertisers are leaving Facebook: They are allergic to controversy and news is a vector for controversy and so they don't want to be next to news, either. That behavior is well-established. https://twitter.com/...
The companies won't advertise with them anymore, people are leaving in their thousands, even some ex Royals. Isn't it time YOU just hit delete account? It doesn't hurt. I promise. https://twitter.com/...
The UK tabloids readership are not ‘our’ target audience. There is a whole new world waiting for ‘our’ message and ‘our’ kind of work. https://twitter.com/...
“There may be a philosophical victory here, but it probably won't make a life-altering difference to any of the companies involved, as the tech giants continue to eat up all of the internet's advertising revenue.” https://www.cjr.org/...
One metric here — Facebook held a cross-team meeting *within 24 hours* of just the boycott's announcement to discuss how to handle it. https://twitter.com/...
This ‘PR ploy’ conjecture about the calculation of companies suddenly jumping on the @Facebook ad boycott bandwagon strikes me as more than slightly plausible. Via today's @ReliableSources newsletter: https://view.newsletters.cnn.com/ ... https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.c…
Imagine zuckerburg going all “no soup for you” and permanently banning boycotting companies from advertising with facebook again. I wonder if this will stop the boycott snowball right in its tracks... https://twitter.com/...
“Boycotting in general is not the way for us to make progress together. We set our policies based on principles rather than business interests.” -@ceverson of Facebook Then, please, prove it. Start by picking a better set of principles. #StopHateForProfit https://www.cnbc.com/...
If citizens are asking how they can support #StopHateForProfit now that 100+ advertisers have pulled their funding of Facebook/Instagram for at least July, the simple answer is to support these advertisers publicly and also take a break, delete Facebook's apps yourself for July. …
Facebook faces a moment of reckoning. It will learn that without money from advertisers it is not all powerful. Coca-Cola, Unilever, Verizon, Honda - and more to come - no longer want to subsidize a platform that amplifies hate speech and disinformation. https://www.cnbc.com/...
These are high value advertisers still on Facebook: @ProcterGamble @Walmart @Target @amazon @Microsoft @BestBuy @GeneralMills @KelloggsUS @pepsico 1) Retweet this. 2) DM the brands. Encourage them to do the right thing and withdraw their advertising for #StopHateForProfit https:/…
To be clear Coke isn't officially joining the boycott... it's pausing ads on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Snapchat to reassess. https://twitter.com/...
ZUCKERBERG IS WORRIED As more and more advertisers boycott Facebook, he now says he will “ban ads that claim people from groups based on race, religion, sexual orientation or immigration status are a threat to physical safety or health.” So they were allowed before...?!? https://…
After having had all the freedom in the world to do so, and democratic governments having squandered the opportunity to make the rule of law leading in speech online, the core business of Facebook: advertising, shows money talks as boycotts lead to a step to #StopHateForProfit ↘️…
The question really should be what the hell were they doing accepting ads which included hate speech in the first place. What goes through someone's mind to do that? https://www.cnbc.com/...