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Disney Reportedly Joins Facebook Boycott, Slashes Ad Spending (theverge.com) 84

Posted by EditorDavid from the Mickey-Mouse's-club dept.
An anonymous reader quotes the Verge: Disney has significantly reduced its spending on Facebook and Instagram ads amid concerns about the social media platform's enforcement of its content policies, The Wall Street Journal reported. It joins a list of large companies that have cut back on Facebook ads as part of an effort to compel Facebook to change how it handles hate speech and misinformation on its platforms.

The monthlong #StopHateforProfit boycott organized by a coalition of civil rights organizations including the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, Color of Change, and Sleeping Giants kicked off July 1st and includes companies like Hershey, Honda, Ben & Jerry's, and Verizon. Other companies not part of the formal boycott that have pulled ads from Facebook and other social platforms included Coca-Cola, Lego, Starbucks, and Unilever. And Microsoft suspended its advertising on Facebook and Instagram through August.
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Disney Reportedly Joins Facebook Boycott, Slashes Ad Spending More

Disney Reportedly Joins Facebook Boycott, Slashes Ad Spending

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  • Bullshit (Score:1, Insightful)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 )
    It's because the virus is causing a downturn. He'll, they just reduced it, didn't even cut it. How stupid do they think we are?

    • Re:Bullshit (Score:5, Informative)

      by DRJlaw ( 946416 ) on Sunday July 19, 2020 @10:07AM (#60307319)

      It's because the virus is causing a downturn. He'll, they just reduced it, didn't even cut it. How stupid do they think we are?

      I know how stupid I think you are.

      According to the WSJ, Disney has paused ads for its news Disney Plus streaming service on Facebook, and paused ads for its Hulu streaming service on Facebookâ(TM)s Instagram platform. Disney spent about $210 million for Disney Plus ads on Facebook in the US in the first half of 2020, the WSJ reports, and spent $16 million for Hulu ads on Instagram between April 15th and June 30th.

      The virus is causing a downturn in use of streaming services? Wrong [globenewswire.com]. That market is growing faster than ever.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by malkavian ( 9512 )

        Does that cover the huge losses at the front end (where they usually recoup the investments; at the box office)?
        From all I'm hearing (and this is something I don't have hard figures, so it's not strong evidence; been a bit too busy to run my usual confirmation dives) they're having to eat huge losses at that point.
        Streaming is up, but that was always supposed to be an ancillary revenue stream.

        Reducing spend, not cutting it, just means they think they'll get the same impact with a lower footprint and lower s

      • > That market is growing faster than ever.

        As such, perhaps they no longer feel the need to advertise as much, and with this paper thin spin they can get some woke points out of it.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by DRJlaw ( 946416 )

          As such, perhaps they no longer feel the need to advertise as much, and with this paper thin spin they can get some woke points out of it.

          So they've suspended advertising Disney Plus everywhere else as well, eh?

          Nope.

        • > That market is growing faster than ever.

          As such, perhaps they no longer feel the need to advertise as much

          That is not how advertising works. You advertise your best sellers, not your worst sellers. If an ad is successful, you run it more, not less. If a product is popular, you boost advertising to take advantage of the greater leverage.

      • Most of Disney's income is from theme parks that have been closed, and I believe some are still.

        It's easy to get caught up looking for the "true" meaning behind it all, but it seems likely there's really nothing deeper than run-of-the-mill signalling going on here. From Facebook as well as the advertisers.

        What I'm more interested in is how Facebook will respond. I really think their response might be to ignore it. They've already shut down a few white-hood-and-swastika groups - they can claim they'v

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by DRJlaw ( 946416 )

          Most of Disney's income is from theme parks that have been closed, and I believe some are still.

          That's nice. This concerned advertising specifically for the streaming service and Hulu. You would have seen this if you'd read TFA.

          It's easy to get caught up looking for the "true" meaning behind it all, but it seems likely there's really nothing deeper than run-of-the-mill signalling going on here.

          Which is exactly what TFA and the summary say. What insight do you think are you adding?

          What I'm more interested

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by dcw3 ( 649211 )

          "Most of Disney's income is from theme parks "

          No. 26.23% of their income in 2019 came from "Parks, experiences and products. Disney sells a shit ton of products.

          https://www.statista.com/stati... [statista.com]

      • They'll start using again in asia launch. guaranteed. but it's all kinda stupid and silly anyways. you target the _users_ with the ads.

        you guys know what kind of crazy electrocution car crash etc vids facebook is full of in asia? that's not the point though because you target the users who are using facebook, not what they are watching.

        also to note is that facebook in some countries is the free platform, free from government interference and eavesdropping. it all depends on what country you're in. LINE for

        • Wow! You must have a real aversion to using capital letters. Or do you respond using a cell phone that doesn't automatically capitalize the next word after a period? Either way, it makes your responses very hard to read.

    • How stupid do they think we are?

      "Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that."

      -- George Carlin

  • Just covering up... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Disney's just covering up their support for China which actually hunts down and murders thousands of black people a year, let alone has is now rounding up citizens in Hong Kong for wrong think.

    #StopHateForCommunism

  • Burn it all down! I dream of a world without social media where people have to actually talk to each other and social norms apply.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by malkavian ( 9512 )

      I left the social media side a while ago now, when I became absolutely convinced that it's just the land of the virtual mob. The "Eternal September" on steroids.
      It's sad really. We have the best 'library' of information we've ever had as a species. The best communication channels we've ever had, yet people (not government or companies) have turned it into a cesspit of accusations, witch hunts, misinformation and bigotry.
      It reminds me of a quote that my old man used to say: "The best form of government is

      • It's sad really. We have the best 'library' of information we've ever had as a species. The best communication channels we've ever had, yet people (not government or companies) have turned it into a cesspit of accusations, witch hunts, misinformation and bigotry.

        It's a joint effort between corporations and a subset of the citizenry. It's just like how Slashdot "editors" post all these stories that rile us up. They just want more page views, and thus more ad impressions. They don't give a fuck about us, or society. "If it bleeds, it leads" rules the news, because they want ad impressions above all else. Welcome to Capitalism, can I take your coat, please?

      • "The best form of government is actually a benevolent dictatorship"

        This is probably true, but it's also probably true that anyone who is benevolent has no desire to be a dictator. It reminds me of that Douglas Adams quote where he says that anyone who wants to be president definitely should not be president.

        Perhaps we should devise some system of nomination where politicians have to be regular people nominated by their communities against their will. Make it kind of like jury duty.

  • Not surprising. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by msauve ( 701917 ) on Sunday July 19, 2020 @10:24AM (#60307385)
    Disney supported McCarthyism, too. [explorethearchive.com] And, of course, they've never supported free speech, just paid speech. After building their empire freely using the works of the Bros. Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, Mark Twain, etc., they lobbied for extending copyright terms in order to steal our culture from us. In their spare time, they throw animals into the water to drown [wikipedia.org] to make money.

    • So you're saying that because they share the same values, Disney and Facebook should team up?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by msauve ( 701917 )
        Facebook has it's own issues, but you'll have to explain why you think "they share the same values." Facebook is supporting free speech, and AFAIK hasn't deliberately killed small animals to make a buck. Disney has a history of the opposite.

        • Facebook is supporting free speech

          Holy shit. I didn't think I could laugh at something so hard. But just in case. [nytimes.com] I hate to break it to you bro. They're in it like every other company. For the money.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dcw3 ( 649211 )

      And let's not forget about them outsourcing, and forcing employees to train their H1-B replacements.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • It's not just Disney's money...it's all the other companies that look at what Disney did and decide that they can slash their spending on Facebook too.

    • Disney used to be important, didn't they? I'm sure FB is just reeling from the blow.

      The Disney corporation reported earnings of $69.5 billion in 2019. Billion with a 'b'. Disney remains a global media juggernaut despite their bumbling.

  • <Nelson>Ha ha!</Nelson>

    I hope Mark Zuckerberg doesn't have to cut back on his daily "let's-buy-a-yacht" habit.

  • This isn't about "hate speech" (Score:4, Informative)

    by cascadingstylesheet ( 140919 ) on Sunday July 19, 2020 @11:36AM (#60307637) Journal
    This isn't about "hate speech". It's about seizing control of all communications channels, and enforcing lockstep conformity.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DogDude ( 805747 )

      This isn't about "hate speech". It's about seizing control of all communications channels, and enforcing lockstep conformity.

      Who's seizing what communication channels, exactly? Are you sure you're responding to the correct article...?

      • This isn't about "hate speech". It's about seizing control of all communications channels, and enforcing lockstep conformity.

        Who's seizing what communication channels, exactly? Are you sure you're responding to the correct article...?

        Um, the group of companies literally ganging up on any communications channels who don't toe the line? Doing it right in the open?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by imidan ( 559239 )

          And, of course, what you mean by "seizing communications channels" is "choosing not to purchase advertising space from particular sellers." The free market is a double-edged sword. Disney and any other companies participating in an advertising boycott of Facebook (or just choosing not to advertise there at the moment) have the right not to do business with Facebook. They even have the right to set the terms on which they will choose to purchase advertising. Facebook has based a significant part of its busin

    • Sometimes people conform around the things because they are obvious and compelling. In an emergency like this consensus with compromise means we are all pulling in the same direction. In such times those who default to contrarianism, are unable to be reasoned with, and insist on indoctrinating others are a real problem. There is space for dissent and even pacifism in wartime. But there is no room for outright insurrection. Especially not in the name of some disingenuous âoeslippery slopeâ censo

  • Facebook death by a thousand cuts. Little by little advertisers are peeling off the bandaids.
  • Our marketing department is a little slower than others, but it also found that advertising on social media is redundant when you are big enough for word of mouth on those same platforms to be just as good and it is FREE.

  • Readers spend ~30% of their browsing time on Facebook (IAB).
    Advertisers all too often put 70% of their ads on Facebook.

    Smart advertisers, on the other hand, spend their ad dollars where their customers are.

  • Walt Disney managed to put an Happy Ending on Facebook.

  • ...any conservative point of view.

    If not, why are not these mobs all worked up over the lying mainstream media that continuously lie about conservatives and conservative issues? The New York Times and Washington Post probably should not have any advertisers at all if this paradigm were applied consistently. Misinformation? No, bald-faced lies. One after he other. I used to want to go to the library and read the New York Times when I was young. Now, it seems there's no point in doing so, as it is impo

    • The problem is you haven't given any examples. My observation is the NYT has been mostly careful to not print lies.

  • This whole thing is frightening me. Here is the NAACP page [naacp.org] on what they are asking for from Facebook. I can't believe I live in a world where civil rights groups are asking for corporations to censor people. I feel like I was transported into some alternate dystopia.

    They gave Facebook a specific list of things that they believe should be censored! Check it out:

    4. Find and remove public and private groups focused on white supremacy, militia, antisemitism, violent conspiracies, Holocaust denialism, vaccine misinformation, and climate denialism.

    Do they not realize that if they do this, some right-wing group is going to demand that Facebook:

    4. Find and remove public and private groups focused on wearing of face masks, feminism, abortion, LGBT, Islamic extremism, public swearing, and socialism.

    You can't tell corporations to silence the other

  • I'm still boycotting Disney after he ruined the lives of his animators by naming them as communists to HUAC as retaliation for trying to collective bargain.
  • To these people The Pledge of Allegiance is hate speech.

  • It's hard not to see Microsoft's move as simply discontinuing its support of a potential competitor in some space, with a pretext handed to them on a silver platter. Some of the other corporate moves are probably similar, in that they're not based in ideology, they're based on an expectation that ROI is going to be shit.

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