Facebook Ad Boycott Over: Now What?

Nearly two months have passed since Adidas, Ben & Jerry’s, Coca-Cola, and 1000+ of the world’s biggest advertisers stopped their ad spend on Facebook during the month of June, in the #StopHateForProfit campaign. 

And it feels like a good time to look back and ask: so, what? 

Is it still going? What did it achieve? Is there any lasting impact we can associate with it? And, what’s next? 

Let’s see. 

Hate Speech Didn’t Go Anywhere 

While some major names have decided to make their own assessments of how Facebook is dealing with hate speech and misinformation since the boycott began, other brands like The North Face, are happy with what they’ve seen. 

“We are encouraged by the initial progress and recognize that change doesn’t happen overnight. We intend to resume our working relationship with Facebook and Instagram in August…” a spokesman from the company said.  

Many believe Facebook has failed to deliver on advertisers’ boycott demands, though. The Anti-Defamation League, one of the advocacy groups that launched the campaign recently stated that it “wasn’t a really full campaign. It was a warning shot and that things are in the works.” 

At the same time, companies like Pernod Ricard are developing a series of apps for consumers to report hate speech online and want to work with other businesses to tackle such content, as people now want companies to take a stand on societal issues. Which is a trend that could perhaps attribute some of its potential growth in the future to the boycott.  

What About the Budgets? 

Heineken was among many big brands that restarted buying ads in August while making sure to mention that they’ll continue checking and maintaining dialogue with FB as they make progress. Perhaps it’s all a question of loss versus gain and how long a company can allow itself to extend their boycott. 

Some brands, on the other hand, are continuing the boycott into August (J.M. Smucker Co., Beam Suntory Inc., Eddie Bauer, SAP SE and Boston Beer) while others will resume their advertising on FB everywhere but in the U.S. (Volkswagen AG.) 

Pfizer, among many other brands, denied commenting on where they stand RN. 

What seems to be the case is that advertisers are split on what to do with their marketing budgets – and how to go about communicating their choices. 

Let the Numbers Speak 

Another question, which probably isn’t a concern for the social media giant though, is whether the boycott can stop its ad business from growing. The numbers paint a clear picture to answer that: the Facebook stock rose more than 6% on its earnings report and the company reported 11% revenue growth. 

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg didn’t seem too troubled by the boycott when speaking with employees in June, saying “[his] guess is that all these advertisers will be back on the platform soon enough. 

Others agreed. “I was, too, sceptic at the extent of the impact the boycott can achieve: Fact is, almost all companies that pulled out their budgets from Facebook, did not do so for Instagram,” Tamara Pavliuk, Head of CRM at PokerMatch. 

What’s interesting and noteworthy here is that TikTok launched TikTok For Business for marketers with innovative AR ads at around the same time of the boycott. 

What’s Next? 

This brings us to what Pete Romano, CRM, and Business Automation Expert at Segwik told us recently. “I think that Facebook and Google have figured out how to live and play nicely together in the U.S., however, I think that what keeps Zuckerberg up at night is TikTok. Many, MANY influencers have migrated to TikTok.” 

More recently, in a statement, FB said, “We are seeing signs of normalization in user growth and engagement as shelter in-place measures have eased around the world, particularly in developed markets where Facebook’s penetration is higher.” 

And so – regardless of whether the biggest names in the world cut their ad budgets, keeping millions of dollars away from the platform – Facebook’s ad business continues to thrive. 

Other than somewhat hurting its already declining reputation, it doesn’t seem like the social media tycoon is going anywhere, anytime soon.