Coca-Cola Halts Facebook Advertising as Several Companies Boycott
Coca-Cola announced its plan to halt all of its social media advertisements for the next 30 days to show its support for racial equality.
On Friday, Coca-Cola CEO and Chairman, James Quincey released an official statement on behalf of the multinational beverage corporation confirming its intent.
While Coca-Cola did indicate that they have not joined the official boycott movement, the major advertiser does agree that the world has “no place for racism.”
“There is no place for racism in the world and there is no place for racism on social media,” Quincey said in a statement.
The corporation also confirmed its ads will be paused on both Facebook and Instagram “at least” 30 days.
“The Coca-Cola Company will pause paid advertising on all social media platforms globally for at least 30 days,” the statement read. “We will take this time to reassess our advertising policies to determine whether revisions are needed. We also expect greater accountability and transparency from our social media partners.”
Amid heightened calls for racial equality, Coca-Cola has stood in solidarity with tweets supporting diversity and the end of systemic racism.
Building a better future means joining together as we move forward. We are donating to @100blackmen as a part of the effort to end systemic racism and bring true equality to all. This is just a first step. #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/QqwYseKjAS
— Coca-Cola (@CocaCola) June 3, 2020
Coca-Cola’s statement comes as many major corporations have joined the “Stop Hate for Profit” boycott. Per CNBC, a long list developed by Sleeping Giants includes the name of every corporation currently pausing ads.
Shortly after Coca-Cola released its statement, Dockers and Levi’s echoed similar sentiments as they urged Facebook to “take actions to stop misinformation and hate speech” on its social networks.
“Facebook must take actions to stop misinformation and hate speech on its platforms. It is an unacceptable affront to our values,” the statement read. “We and Dockers are joining the #stophateforprofit campaign and pausing all ads on Facebook.”
As of Saturday morning, the list includes more than 130 companies including Dockers, Eddie Bauer, Levi’s, TalkSpace, UpWork, and Verizon Wireless.
The massive movement has already contributed to more than $7.21 billion being wiped from Facebook’s assets and its share price also declined by 8% when the markets closed on Friday.
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