"There is no room for racism in the world and there is no room for racism on social media," said James Quincey, CEO of the global giant Coca-Cola, in a statement on Friday. very short press release. The brand, which spends huge sums on advertising, has announced that it will suspend all promotion on all social networks for at least 30 days.
More "transparency"
He demanded of platforms that other brands decided to boycott and deprive of their advertising revenues to force them to do more to remove hateful content, that they demonstrate more "transparency and accountability".
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Coca-Cola will use its break to "take stock of (its) advertising strategies and see if revisions are necessary," said James Quincey. The soft drink giant told CNBC that the "hiatus" did not mean it joined the movement launched last week by black American and civil society groups.
Ad boycott campaign
Called #StopHateForProfit ("No to hate for profits"), this campaign to boycott Facebook ads in July is notably supported by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), ColorOfChange, ADL (Anti-Defamation League , a Jewish organization), FreePress and Sleeping Giants. It aims to obtain better regulation of groups inciting hatred, racism or violence on the network.
Friday was Unilever, one of the world leaders in the food and cosmetics industry, which announced that it would stop advertising on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in the United States until the end of the year, at least, due to a "polarized" electoral period.
Under pressure, Facebook let go of the ballast on the principles displayed by its founder Mark Zuckerberg, who himself announced a hardening of the position of the social network in the face of hate messages.