A group of advertisers, called the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), have “discontinued” activities, Business Insider reports, citing an email sent to members. The group said it had limited money, and was focused on fighting the antitrust lawsuit filed against it by X.
GARM was an initiative formed in 2019 by the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA); the idea was to stop advertising on social media platforms that don’t meet certain safety standards. In its lawsuit, X said that GARM “organized an advertiser boycott of Twitter.”
…
On Tuesday, Elon Musk’s X – formerly Twitter – filed a lawsuit against a marketing trade body and string of major advertisers including Unilever and Mars for an “illegal boycott” on the platform which – the claim said – violates antitrust legislation.
But rather than scare brands into submission, bosses in the media industry told City A.M. that the move – which was variously described as “ego-driven”, “cult-like” and “insane” – is only likely to push already disillusioned brands further away from the ad spend-reliant site.
…
Meanwhile Alex Wilson, a senior strategist at London agency Pitch, told City A.M. that whereas pre-Musk Twitter was once a good avenue for brands to insert themselves into the biggest conversations, its unregulated nature has made it hard for to convince his clients to part way with money on the site.
…
In a WhatsApp messages seen by City A.M. between staff at one of the world’s largest ad buying agencies, one exec wrote: “[The lawsuit] coupled with Elon’s comments on recent riots… how any brand can even contemplate going near it is insanity.”
Tait added: “Existing concerns that UK advertisers have about the platform are also likely to be increased by role X / Twitter is thought to have played in the unrest we’ve seen over the last week.”
