Coca-Cola Joins Blue Chip Brand Fight Against Silicon Valley

We mentioned on Friday that Verizon dropped their ads on Facebook, and Unilever dropped their ads on Facebook and Twitter (with both brands also ceasing sponsorship of Facebook-owned Instagram). A third international blue chip company has entered the fray -- Coca-Cola. They announced on Friday a 30-day moratorium, at least, on advertising on all social media platforms:

“There is no place for racism in the world and there is no place for racism on social media," Coca-Cola CEO James Quincy said in a statement. "The Coca-Cola Company will pause paid advertising on all social media platforms globally for at least 30 days. 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.”

Between fake news and hate speech -- and how you classify and then label each -- all social media platforms are going to be in the crosshairs during what is guaranteed to be a chaotic election season. Facebook and Twitter stock both dropped nearly eight percent on Friday on the Unilever news. After a company official had just been quoted in the Wall Street Journal saying they did not make policy decisions based on pressure from business partners, Facebook announced a policy shift.

The point has been made that Facebook in particular is not as reliant on "big" advertisers as most media companies:

Nonetheless, it warrants monitoring to see which other brands join in this fight against Silicon Valley, and if publishers would ever do the same.