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The Venue Is Ugly, Nobody Wants To Play

Michael Hedges June 27, 2020 Follow on Twitter

Nothing disturbs the game more than participants refusing to play, walking off the pitch, walking away. It doesn’t happen often. There are rules, mutually agreed, to prevent this. Otherwise the game collapses, venues close, fans aren’t sure what to do. The advertising people are having a moment of reflection.

no playSeveral big brands have withdrawn their money from social media colossus Facebook. Beverage maker Coca-Cola and household products giant Unilever joined, in their own ways, the boycott gaining attention across the business and media worlds. US telecom Verizon also joined the boycott. And that was just Friday (June 26). About 90 brands have suspended or cancelled paid advertising on social media platforms, starting with Facebook and, sometimes, including Instagram and Twitter. Most are primarily US consumer brands. With the addition of Coca-Cola and Unilever, the boycott has turned global though Unilever’s action is limited to the US. “There is much more to be done, especially in the areas of divisiveness and hate speech during this polarized election period in the US,” said a Unilever statement quoted by AFP (June 26).

“Starting on July 1, The Coca-Cola Company will pause paid advertising on all social media platforms globally for at least 30 days,” said a statement from chief executive James Quincey, reported The Verge (June 26). “We will take this time to reassess our advertising standards and policies to determine whether revisions are needed internally, and what more we should expect of our social media partners to rid the platforms of hate, violence and inappropriate content. We will let them know we expect greater accountability, action and transparency from them.”

Ice cream maker Ben and Jerry’s, principally owned by Unilever, was one of the first brands to walk off the pitch because of the venue being in shambles. In a statement, quoted by MarketWatch (June 23), it called “for Facebook to take stronger action to stop its platforms from being used to divide our nation, suppress voters, foment and fan the flames of racism and violence, and undermine our democracy." US civil rights groups, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and Anti-Defamation League (ADL). mounted a campaign - StopHate4Profit - a week earlier (June 17) to draw attention to the incongruity between hate speech and profitability on social media.

Consumer brands have a vested interest in keeping their logos and messages as far from hate speech and misinformation as possible. It’s called guilt by association. Divisive political content online, while not new and certainly not exclusive to social media, poses a the same problem.

San Francisco creative agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, part of advertising holding company Omnicom, jumped in. “We will join StopHate4Profit and stop posting on Facebook for the month of July,” said a statement quoted by CNBC (June 26). “We are taking this action to protest the platform’s irresponsible propagation of hate speech, racism, and misleading voter information. We encourage clients and our own people to join us.” Its clients include BMW, PayPal and PepsiCo.

Early on, Dentsu New York digital agency 360i, in an email to clients, reported by the Wall Street Journal (June 19), said “any social platform that earns profits by amplifying the voices of their community must have a zero tolerance policy for hate. “It is no longer enough to be on a path to addressing this or merely celebrating the considerable gains made over the last year or so.” 360i clients include spice maker McCormick & Co., Unilever and Discover Financial Services.

The boycott has cost Facebook chief executive, co-founder and controlling shareholder Mark Zuckerberg US$7.2 billion, according to Bloomberg (June 26) as the share price fell 8%. The company’s advertising revenue stream, 97% of all revenues, was about US$70 billion in 2019. The boycott seems to have accomplished a small part of its goal: getting Mr. Zuckerberg’s attention.

That came Friday with Mr. Zuckerberg, without mentioning the boycott, announcing vague plans to prohibit hate speech. “I am committed to making sure Facebook remains a place where people can use their voice to discuss important issues,” he said, quoted by CNBC (June 26). “But I also stand against hate or anything that incites violence or suppresses voting, and we’re committed to removing that content too, no matter where it comes from.” Not removed but flagged will be posts from politicians that otherwise might get not meet the new standards. “Seeing speech from politicians is in the public interest,” he added. In 2018 another boycott after the Cambridge Analytica scandal just faded away.

Advertisers and agencies are giving Mr. Zuckerberg the month of July to fix a set of problems that have been simmering for several years. The huge global reach of Facebook, as well as WhatsApp and Instagram, are attractive to advertisers, particularly with the targeting capabilities. But if the brands do not feel safe in that venue, they will take the game elsewhere.

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