Apple's ad agency recommends a stop to Twitter campaigns
Apple is exercising its right to free speech, and appears to have agreed with its ad agency recommending a halt to advertising on Twitter.
The grey official Twitter check mark
Twitter has had a tumultuous few days. Changes under new CEO Elon Musk have thrown verification into chaos, made it easy to impersonate brands and people, and more.
And now, another ad agency -- one that represents Apple -- is recommending that clients not spend any more money advertising on Twitter.
In a note seen by The Verge, Omnicom Media Group is telling its clients to "pause activity on Twitter in the short-term." Specifically, the ad agency is concerned about not just impersonation but also layoffs in Twitter trust and safety teams, resignations of executives responsible for FTC compliance, and more.
"Evidence that the risk to our clients' brand safety has risen sharply to a level most would find unacceptable," the memo obtained on November 11 reads. "We recommend pausing activity on Twitter in the short term until the platform can prove it has reintroduced safeguards to an acceptable level and has regained control of its environment."
Omnicom has reportedly reached out to Twitter to have its concerns addressed. The report notes that Twitter has not been able to address the concerns, and it's unclear if that's because of a complete lack of response from the company or a breakdown of the Twitter chain of command responsible for those communications.
Advertisers have been exiting in some volume since the Musk takeover. Most automotive companies led the exit. Other companies that have ceased Twitter advertising include General Mills, Deutsche Bank, United Airlines, Air Canada, REI, and more.
Musk says that the departures are "trying to destroy free speech" and threatened a "thermonuclear name & shame" of advertisers that have stopped the flow of ad money to the company.
AppleInsider wasn't able to find Apple ads on Twitter in a brief check on the evening of November 11. The ads were not completely withdrawn, as we have discovered some on November 28.
Musk has taken issue to Apple's reduction, though.
Update November 28, 1:04 PM: Updated with a confirmed reduction in Apple advertising on Twitter, and Musk's reaction.
Read on AppleInsider
The grey official Twitter check mark
Twitter has had a tumultuous few days. Changes under new CEO Elon Musk have thrown verification into chaos, made it easy to impersonate brands and people, and more.
And now, another ad agency -- one that represents Apple -- is recommending that clients not spend any more money advertising on Twitter.
In a note seen by The Verge, Omnicom Media Group is telling its clients to "pause activity on Twitter in the short-term." Specifically, the ad agency is concerned about not just impersonation but also layoffs in Twitter trust and safety teams, resignations of executives responsible for FTC compliance, and more.
"Evidence that the risk to our clients' brand safety has risen sharply to a level most would find unacceptable," the memo obtained on November 11 reads. "We recommend pausing activity on Twitter in the short term until the platform can prove it has reintroduced safeguards to an acceptable level and has regained control of its environment."
Omnicom has reportedly reached out to Twitter to have its concerns addressed. The report notes that Twitter has not been able to address the concerns, and it's unclear if that's because of a complete lack of response from the company or a breakdown of the Twitter chain of command responsible for those communications.
Advertisers have been exiting in some volume since the Musk takeover. Most automotive companies led the exit. Other companies that have ceased Twitter advertising include General Mills, Deutsche Bank, United Airlines, Air Canada, REI, and more.
Musk says that the departures are "trying to destroy free speech" and threatened a "thermonuclear name & shame" of advertisers that have stopped the flow of ad money to the company.
AppleInsider wasn't able to find Apple ads on Twitter in a brief check on the evening of November 11. The ads were not completely withdrawn, as we have discovered some on November 28.
Musk has taken issue to Apple's reduction, though.
It's not clear why Musk doesn't see that Apple choosing to not advertise on the platform is Apple exercising its right to free speech. Twitter is not entitled to advertising dollars from any source, nor is it required to enable Musk's with advertising dollars for any reason.Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?
-- Elon Musk (@elonmusk)
Update November 28, 1:04 PM: Updated with a confirmed reduction in Apple advertising on Twitter, and Musk's reaction.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
My money’s on him long term.
Twitter will be up and running functionally in no time. People will forget. And all the advertisers will return.
All the keyboard CEO’s who know better than Elon will move on to something else.
And all the morons who are going to “boycott” any business or brand advertising on Twitter will be patronizing all of them without a thought.
Uh, how can you name and shame companies who have made it public knowledge that they are stepping back from Twitter?
Daily reporting of Musk is either mass hysteria, cancel culture at work, or simply capitalist profiteering from hot-button "shock" news to draw in more readers. Or maybe it's all of those things.
Here's reality...
It's not that big a deal.
Musk is a rich guy who for his own reasons bought Twitter -- a social media platform that I myself never use except for the rare cases of entering some kind of giveaway or sweepstakes. FaceBook interactions mean far, far more to me. (I'm not into Instagram either, for what it's worth.) And while a large number of people really do care about Twitter, we all need to sit back, take a deep breath and relax because before Twitter existed, human beings existed and got along with each other about as well as we are today.
Can the world live without Twitter? You bet it can! In some ways, it probably would be better for it.
So when a rich guy buys a company and then tries to get a return on his investment, he will try many things. Some things he tries will fail and others will succeed. Musk is playing with ideas now. LET HIM! The mass media is having a hay day with it only because CHANGE ALWAYS TRIGGERS CONTROVERSY! But in the end, all the mass media does is manipulate the minds of readers. That's right. It's not some crazy rich guy touting freedom of speech that endangers minds. It's the mind manipulating media! The same is true of election time. We have all this so-called "news" which is little more than biased commentary, all constructed to trigger people and indirectly influence votes. Why? Because triggered people help ratings and viewer/reader-ship. Yeah. It's as petty as money. Or better: "filthy lucre."
Don't get me wrong. I still like AppleInsider. They are merely playing follow-the-leader when it comes to hot button and "trending" stories like this. But in the greater scheme of things, this topic about Musk and Twitter doesn't matter. If you died today and went to heaven, do you thing the saints will be asking you about the latest news on Twitter? Think about it. There are much, MUCH more meaningful things than the need to dwell daily on what Musk is doing with something new he bought.
Don't worry. Be happy.
It's good advice for us all. Yeah, it does work. And if you leave somebody alone to think long enough, good may come of it. Leave Musk and Twitter alone, and report on something else. We all need a breather from this incessant Twitter/Musk news. The only reason it seems to be a big deal is because the mass media wants you to believe that. It's time we all stop listening to what others tell us to think and start thinking for ourselves, even if that means we need to take a break from the crazy daily news for a while.
They can't take about trust and safety while trying to boycott Twitter to ensure it gets hurt. As if their tactic isn't blatantly ovious.