A growing number of brands have suspended advertising on the platform following Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, including food company General Mills, Oreo maker Yizi International, Pfizer and Volkswagen’s Audi, people familiar with the matter said, according to foreign media reports.
General Mills spokeswoman Kelsey Roemhildt has confirmed that the company has suspended advertising on Twitter and said it will continue to focus on this new direction and evaluate marketing spend, as it has done in the past.
Some advertisers are said to be concerned that Elon Musk may ease content review, which they fear will lead to an increase in bad content on the platform; also, because of uncertainty at the company with the departure of Twitter executives and the series of changes Elon Musk is considering.
About 20 clients have suspended their ad spending on Twitter, according to executives at major ad agencies. Many executives are unnerved by the sudden departure of executives from Twitter’s ad sales and marketing division, and some ad buyers have said brands may shift ad revenue currently allocated to Twitter to other tech platforms.
For his part, Elon Musk has also been fighting for the platform’s advertising business and is trying to convince advertisers that Twitter remains safe. Elon Musk has held several meetings with some of the world’s largest advertising companies since his tweet last week clarifying that “Twitter will not be a place to abuse free speech. On Wednesday, Elon Musk held a video call with WPP PLC, the world’s largest ad agency, and some of its clients, such as Coca-Cola, Unilever and Google, according to people familiar with the matter.
