Multinationals such as General Mills, CVs, United Airlines, Audi, Mazda, and many others have suspended ads on Twitter following the layoff of 3,700 employees of the company, representing 50 percent of the total workforce.
Apart from the above companies other advertisers boycotting Twitter include VW, American Express, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss, Spotify, Ford, Dyson, Forbes, DIRECTV, Nintendo, Unilever, and PBS.
Others are O2, Hyundai, and Domino’s Pizza, Oreo cookies, Lamborghini, Bentley, Ducati, Michelin, Puma, Reckitt, Sanofi, Hugo BOSS, KIA, Swarovski, Walt Disney, NBCUniversal, Pillow-Fight, and Cole Haan.
Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of Twitter and who championed far-reaching changes in the microblogging platform, tried to reassure advertisers that the social media company remains safe to advertise in a virtual meeting where he met with over 100 advertisers on Thursday. It appears that the advertisers are not convinced.
General Mills, one of the advertisers that suspended its ads said it will continue to monitor the new direction and evaluate its marketing spend.
Read also: Twitter includes $8 Blue checkmark fee in new iOS update
General Motors said it is engaging Twitter to understand the direction it is taking under the 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 reported by CNBC.
Interpublic Group, a major advertising firm described the Twitter situation as “unpredictable and chaotic, and bad actors and unsafe behaviors can thrive in such an environment.”
The new Twitter under Musk is championing a subscription-based revenue model. On Saturday it included an $8 fee for Twitter Blue checkmark in its iOS update. Although a company representative said the updated blue checkmark is still in beta and full feature will be launched very soon but Twitter is already testing it with some users.
Musk reportedly claimed that the blue checkmark needed an update because Twitter staff were allegedly selling the verified badge for up to $15,000 in unauthorised private transactions.
In some cases, staff were allegedly rejecting legitimate applications for verification, then privately offering to approve accounts for dollars.
