Some advertisers have had a second thought about Twitter’s new leadership. As worries about Elon Musk’s plans for content filtering mount, businesses like General Motors, Volkswagen, Audi, and Pfizer are said to have suspended their platform advertising, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The following companies halted all advertising on Twitter following Elon Musk's takeover:
• General Motors
• United Airlines
• General Mills
• Lamborghini
• Volkswagen
• Porsche
• Bentley
• Pfizer
• Oreo
• Audi— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) November 6, 2022
In a virtual conference with more than 100 advertisers and ad agency executives on Thursday, the billionaire attempted to reassure wary advertisers that the platform will remain safe to advertise on, Insider’s Lara O’Reilly and Lindsay Rittenhouse reported.
Some marketers, though, aren’t so confident and have temporarily paused their advertising. Continue reading to find out which businesses have abandoned the platform.
General Mills
The food firm General Mills, whose products include the morning cereal Cheerios, Bisquick, and Häagen-Dazs, has halted all social media advertising.
According to a General Mills representative, “as usual, we will continue to monitor this new path and evaluate our marketing budget.”
Audi
Audi AG, a German automaker, has likewise stopped running advertisements on Twitter.
The Associated Press was informed by an Audi representative, Whaewon Choi-Wiles, on Thursday that the firm “will continue to evaluate the matter.”
Pfizer
The Wall Street Journal, citing persons familiar with the situation, reported that Pfizer has also halted its social media advertising.
Pfizer did not answer right away when Insider asked for confirmation.
General Motors
Last week, Musk’s Tesla rival General Motors suspended all of its advertising. The business announced that while it will be using the platform to communicate with clients, it will not be paying for any of the site’s services.
“We are engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership. As is normal course of business with a significant change in a media platform, we have temporarily paused our paid advertising. Our customer care interactions on Twitter will continue,” the company said in an emailed statement seen by CNBC.
Volkswagen
According to unnamed sources cited in The Wall Street Journal, Volkswagen reportedly took comparable actions and removed its advertisements from the social media network.
When Insider asked Volkswagen for confirmation, no one from the company responded right away.
Oreo
The maker of Oreos, Mondelez International, has reportedly temporarily stopped running advertisements on Twitter.
When newsway requested confirmation, Mondelez International’s representatives took some time to answer.
Major advertising agency Interpublic Group has likewise suggested that clients hold off on purchasing Twitter advertising while the company is going through its “chaotic” transition.
The Wall Street Journal received an email from Interpublic Group on Monday that stated, in part: “The current scenario is unpredictable and chaotic, and such an environment can foster bad actors and risky actions.”
We are unable to say with certainty that Twitter is a secure platform for brands at this time.
Customers of the advertising firms Havas and IPG have also been warned to stop using Twitter.
