Facebook Sales at Risk as Starbucks Bails, GM Plans Review
- Advertisers want Facebook to do more to limit hate speech
- Civil Rights groups expect more companies to join boycott
Facebook Inc. fielded criticism from a growing number of consumer companies over harmful content on its sites, with Starbucks Corp. and Diageo Plc pulling back on ad spending and General Motors Co. planning to review its social media marketing strategy.
Starbucks and Diageo followed Unilever, Coca-Cola Co. and several other companies in saying they will cut ad spending, part of an exodus aimed at pushing Facebook and its peers to limit hate speech and posts that divide and misinform. Microsoft Corp., which was Facebook’s third-largest advertiser last year, has paused global ad spending on the site because of concerns about ads appearing next to inappropriate content, according to a person familiar with the matter. The list of companies taking similar action lengthened on Monday. Britvic Plc, which supplies a wide range of soft drinks, Patreon Inc. and The Clorox Co. all said they will stop advertising on Facebook while GM said it’s “reviewing and reinforcing” its marketing guidelines.