Maker of Ben Jerry’s, Dove pulls off from Facebook, Twitter ads in US

PTI, Jun 27, 2020, 9:05 AM IST

San Francisco: The company behind Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Dove soap, and a host of other consumer products said Friday it will stop advertising on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram in the US through at least the end of the year because of the amount of hate speech online.

Unilever said that the polarized atmosphere in the United States ahead of November’s presidential election placed responsibility on brands to act.

The company, which is based in the Netherlands and Britain, joins a raft of other companies halting advertising on online platforms. Facebook in particular has been the target of an escalating movement to siphon away advertising dollars in a bid to pressure the social media-giant to do more to prevent racist and violent content from being shared on its platform.

“We have decided that starting now through at least the end of the year, we will not run brand advertising in social media newsfeed platforms Facebook, Instagram and Twitter in the U.S.,” Unilever said. “Continuing to advertise on these platforms at this time would not add value to people and society.” Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On Thursday, Verizon joined others in the Facebook boycott.

Sarah Personette, vice president of global client solutions at Twitter, said the company’s “mission is to serve the public conversation and ensure Twitter is a place where people can make human connections, seek and receive authentic and credible information, and express themselves freely and safely.”