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Cynic in me says this is an awfully convenient way to justify a cut-back in advertising spend during the economic crisis while gaining free PR for being so "soc

Cynic in me says this is an awfully convenient way to justify a cut-back in advertising spend during the economic crisis while gaining free PR for being so "socially conscious". Most of these companies even mentioned right in the announcement that it's only for a month.

solox3 6y ago
It's exactly what it is. The marketing department does a cost-benefit analysis on whether it gets more attention by buying Facebook ads, versus the (free!) media coverage they get from not buying Facebook ads. This time, the latter seems to be winning.
- TheSpiceIsLife 6y ago
  Yep. While the accounting, marketing, legal, and executive folk from these companies and Facebook go to the same bars and social outings and pat each other on the back.
LatteLazy 6y ago
It's a great way to get one last ping of free, positive press for nothing. Its nothing more than that imho, no one cared when it was hate speech or election interference or privacy or under moderation or kids. But suddenly, the same day accounting decided to cut the budget they had a moral epiphany? Pfft.
- TLightful 6y ago
  Maybe, but all of the companies involved can go f!ck themselves if they return to FB with no concessions. So, a one time ping for an eternal f!ck you? Doesn't seem to make strategic sense.
  - forgotmypw17 6y ago
    Who's going to report on it?
    - LatteLazy 6y ago
      No media outlet hoping for advertising dollars from Starbucks, Coke, etc. So no one.
      - TLightful 6y ago
        Sleeping Giants do a good job. As effective as possible all things considered.
  - vageli 6y ago
    I agree on principle, but I don't think FB will refuse these advertisers when they return (and the advertisers know it).
    - LatteLazy 6y ago
      You expect Facebook to take a moral stance? Right when the company will be most desperate for those same dollars?
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
      - AnonC 6y ago
        Honestly, your first question stands by itself for all times as far as Facebook is concerned. Facebook is incapable of and disinterested in taking moral stances for any reason.
    - TLightful 6y ago
      I'm not talkinng about Facebook. They've shown their hand in terms of who they'll accept and their bankrupt moral standpoint. I just don't think many consumers will let these "paused" companies snuggle back up to FB without a say so. Well, I hope not ... a week is a long time in kicking FB's butt.
- mikecoles 6y ago
  It's neither totally free nor 100% positive. While I'm pleased to see Facebook losing resources, I've taken notice of those dropping their ads. These companies should be making a product and staying out of politics. Knowingly in the minority, I still seek other options for money that was previously given to them. Microsoft took a clever stance. The stopped ads, but for 'technical reasons'. They get the publicity and a way to wiggle out when called on it.
  - dwaltrip 6y ago
    Why shouldn't companies have any values that result in "political" decisions?
- TheSpiceIsLife 6y ago
  Coca-Cola have a moral epiphany? Pfft. Their primary line of products have are having a net negative effect on peoples health.
kenned3 6y ago
Was going to post something similar, but you beat me to it. There is another added benefit here, time for facebook to lower its rates? once COVID19 is over, and facebook as lowered the rates all these companies will be all over facebook once again... they just cant resist all those "users".
mc32 6y ago
Some, like Coca-Cola, if they knew what the whole meaning socially conscientious was then would STOP selling their sweetened watery drinks altogether... but I don’t expect them to do that any time soon.
bmarquez 6y ago
I don't believe that people are looking for brand new cars in the middle of a pandemic, in July. Edmunds and Kelly Blue Book say the best deals are towards the end of the calendar year. It would be safe to cut advertising especially only for a 30 day period.
- mehrdada 6y ago
  I agree with the pandemic part... Best deals on cars however is likely correlated negatively with natural inclination of sale of new cars. July I think, barring pandemic, in fact might be one of the more popular months to shop for a car from a consumer's perspective.
- rosywoozlechan 6y ago
  If someone is planning to buy a car this year, I don't think they're going to find a better deal than right now. These companies are desperate for business right now. I'm seeing 0 interest loans for 5 years at multiple dealerships near me, which is basically the entire life of most loans. I bet you could walk in a dealership, offer cash way under MSRP and drive off the lot right now. Nobody is spending any money and businesses are hurting and are willing to take miserable deals just to sell a car.
  - sjg007 6y ago
    There are so many shenanigans buying new. 0% is dealer financing and you’d need the manufacturer to drop the price to get leverage from a dealer.
  - dhosek 6y ago
    I've heard anecdotally that the supply of used cars has dried up, but I have no first-hand knowledge. Also, hasn't manufacturing at least slowed if not stopped?
CerealFounder 6y ago
There actually is a more technical reason. Running up to an election, brand advertising performs SIGNIFICANTLY worse. This is probably pre-emptive.
- ShamelessC 6y ago
  I wasn't aware of this phenomenon. Is there an intuition behind why this is the case?
bowmessage 6y ago
ah, yes, this is a very original comment that has not been posted ad infinitum on every "BigCorp boycotts Facebook Ads" thread in the past few weeks...
kanox 6y ago
Even if this is cost-cutting move by advertisers it is still a huge win for all promoters of censorship.
forgotmypw17 6y ago
All the boycotts I've seen reported are for less than a month, one for half a year. It's barely a blip on the radar for Facebook, but lots of good PR feelings for the boycotters. Also, all it means is that they're not spending any more money on FB ads. They're still represented on their Pages and accessible via FB. Just halftime show during the game.
jilles 6y ago
I never looked at it this way but damn. You have a great point.
manigandham 6y ago
As a 10+ yr adtech veteran, that's exactly what this is. It's free marketing to say they're not marketing. It's happened before in various ways several times (with Facebook, Youtube, etc) and always dissipates eventually. Nobody wants the duopoly to turn into a Google monopoly. Meanwhile it's great for remaining advertisers who have less ad competition and Amazon's growing ad business.

solox3 6y ago

It's exactly what it is. The marketing department does a cost-benefit analysis on whether it gets more attention by buying Facebook ads, versus the (free!) media coverage they get from not buying Facebook ads. This time, the latter seems to be winning.

TheSpiceIsLife 6y ago
Yep. While the accounting, marketing, legal, and executive folk from these companies and Facebook go to the same bars and social outings and pat each other on the back.

LatteLazy 6y ago

It's a great way to get one last ping of free, positive press for nothing. Its nothing more than that imho, no one cared when it was hate speech or election interference or privacy or under moderation or kids. But suddenly, the same day accounting decided to cut the budget they had a moral epiphany? Pfft.

TLightful 6y ago
Maybe, but all of the companies involved can go f!ck themselves if they return to FB with no concessions. So, a one time ping for an eternal f!ck you? Doesn't seem to make strategic sense.
- forgotmypw17 6y ago
  Who's going to report on it?
  - LatteLazy 6y ago
    No media outlet hoping for advertising dollars from Starbucks, Coke, etc. So no one.
    - TLightful 6y ago
      Sleeping Giants do a good job. As effective as possible all things considered.
- vageli 6y ago
  I agree on principle, but I don't think FB will refuse these advertisers when they return (and the advertisers know it).
  - LatteLazy 6y ago
    You expect Facebook to take a moral stance? Right when the company will be most desperate for those same dollars?
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - AnonC 6y ago
      Honestly, your first question stands by itself for all times as far as Facebook is concerned. Facebook is incapable of and disinterested in taking moral stances for any reason.
  - TLightful 6y ago
    I'm not talkinng about Facebook. They've shown their hand in terms of who they'll accept and their bankrupt moral standpoint. I just don't think many consumers will let these "paused" companies snuggle back up to FB without a say so. Well, I hope not ... a week is a long time in kicking FB's butt.
mikecoles 6y ago
It's neither totally free nor 100% positive. While I'm pleased to see Facebook losing resources, I've taken notice of those dropping their ads. These companies should be making a product and staying out of politics. Knowingly in the minority, I still seek other options for money that was previously given to them. Microsoft took a clever stance. The stopped ads, but for 'technical reasons'. They get the publicity and a way to wiggle out when called on it.
- dwaltrip 6y ago
  Why shouldn't companies have any values that result in "political" decisions?
TheSpiceIsLife 6y ago
Coca-Cola have a moral epiphany? Pfft. Their primary line of products have are having a net negative effect on peoples health.

kenned3 6y ago

Was going to post something similar, but you beat me to it. There is another added benefit here, time for facebook to lower its rates? once COVID19 is over, and facebook as lowered the rates all these companies will be all over facebook once again... they just cant resist all those "users".

mc32 6y ago

Some, like Coca-Cola, if they knew what the whole meaning socially conscientious was then would STOP selling their sweetened watery drinks altogether... but I don’t expect them to do that any time soon.

bmarquez 6y ago

I don't believe that people are looking for brand new cars in the middle of a pandemic, in July. Edmunds and Kelly Blue Book say the best deals are towards the end of the calendar year. It would be safe to cut advertising especially only for a 30 day period.

mehrdada 6y ago
I agree with the pandemic part... Best deals on cars however is likely correlated negatively with natural inclination of sale of new cars. July I think, barring pandemic, in fact might be one of the more popular months to shop for a car from a consumer's perspective.
rosywoozlechan 6y ago
If someone is planning to buy a car this year, I don't think they're going to find a better deal than right now. These companies are desperate for business right now. I'm seeing 0 interest loans for 5 years at multiple dealerships near me, which is basically the entire life of most loans. I bet you could walk in a dealership, offer cash way under MSRP and drive off the lot right now. Nobody is spending any money and businesses are hurting and are willing to take miserable deals just to sell a car.
- sjg007 6y ago
  There are so many shenanigans buying new. 0% is dealer financing and you’d need the manufacturer to drop the price to get leverage from a dealer.
- dhosek 6y ago
  I've heard anecdotally that the supply of used cars has dried up, but I have no first-hand knowledge. Also, hasn't manufacturing at least slowed if not stopped?

CerealFounder 6y ago

There actually is a more technical reason. Running up to an election, brand advertising performs SIGNIFICANTLY worse. This is probably pre-emptive.

ShamelessC 6y ago
I wasn't aware of this phenomenon. Is there an intuition behind why this is the case?

bowmessage 6y ago

ah, yes, this is a very original comment that has not been posted ad infinitum on every "BigCorp boycotts Facebook Ads" thread in the past few weeks...

kanox 6y ago

Even if this is cost-cutting move by advertisers it is still a huge win for all promoters of censorship.

forgotmypw17 6y ago

All the boycotts I've seen reported are for less than a month, one for half a year. It's barely a blip on the radar for Facebook, but lots of good PR feelings for the boycotters. Also, all it means is that they're not spending any more money on FB ads. They're still represented on their Pages and accessible via FB. Just halftime show during the game.

jilles 6y ago

I never looked at it this way but damn. You have a great point.

manigandham 6y ago

As a 10+ yr adtech veteran, that's exactly what this is. It's free marketing to say they're not marketing. It's happened before in various ways several times (with Facebook, Youtube, etc) and always dissipates eventually. Nobody wants the duopoly to turn into a Google monopoly. Meanwhile it's great for remaining advertisers who have less ad competition and Amazon's growing ad business.