Skip to main content

Coca Cola gives up on social media advertising entirely

Coca Cola said Friday that it will be removing its millions of dollars in advertising from all social media platforms completely for the next 30 days. The company said the move is not part of the growing number of advertisers boycotting Facebook over its content moderation policies, but “time to reassess our advertising policies to determine whether revisions are needed.”

“There is no place for racism in the world and there is no place for racism on social media,” said Coca Cola CEO and Chairman James Quincey in a statement to CNBC.

When asked if they would join the over 100 other advertisers, including many household names, like cellular provider Verizon, ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s, as well as retailers North Face, Patagonia, and REI, in the Stop Hate For Profit campaign, the company declined, but instead said “we are pausing.”

Coke Bottle Cap Red Background
Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

After a tumultuous week of companies announcing plans to abandon Facebook for the month of July in a growing boycott, founder Mark Zuckerberg seemingly caved to the pressure, announcing Friday that the social media platform will begin “prohibiting a wider category of hateful content in ads.” But it is clear the changes Zuckerberg announced are not enough — his company has come under fire for allowing racist or hateful content, along with posts from politicians like President Donald Trump that other social networks have blocked or labeled as “glorifying violence.”

Coca Cola’s statement Friday lines up with the mission of the #StopHateForProfit campaign, but the company decidedly failed to align itself with it.

Coca Cola spends an average of $4 billion on advertising every year. If the company plans to take social media out of the equation for 30 days globally, it will be interesting to see where they choose to spend that money. Television ads? Or perhaps billboards? Maybe it will spend the extra cash on digital fur technology for its iconic computer-generated polar bears.

Editors' Recommendations

Meira Gebel
Meira Gebel is a freelance reporter based in Portland. She writes about tech, social media, and internet culture for Digital…
Justice Department proposes rolling back protections for social media platforms
what is section 230 the legislation protecting social media image

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has proposed rolling back the protections that social media platforms and tech companies have — a move that could make them legally responsible for what people post on their platforms.

These changes seek to make social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter better address content on their sites when it comes to what is acceptable and what should be taken down, according to the policy document released Wednesday.

Read more
Trump signs executive order targeting social media companies
President Trump Issues Executive Order Against Social Media Companies

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday targeting social media platforms, pushing to make them liable for content posted onto their sites, and ordering the Federal Trade Commission and the attorney general to begin investigating the companies.

"Today, I am signing an executive order to protect and uphold the free speech and rights of the American people," Trump said at the signing.

Read more
Trump plans executive order targeting social media after Twitter fact-check spat
Trump Twitter

After threatening to regulate or even shut down social media networks, President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order on social media, the White House said. What that exactly means, however, remains unclear.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters that the executive order would come on Thursday, but provided no additional details.

Read more