The North Face and REI both said they would temporarily stop buying Facebook ads in solidarity with calls for a boycott from civil rights organizations. Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg have come under fire for allowing racist content and disinformation to propagate on the site.
On Wednesday, a campaign, known as #StopHateForProfit, supported by NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League and others began calling for advertisers to suspend their marketing on Facebook in the month of July. The civil rights group took out a full-page ad in The Los Angeles Times demanding Facebook remove hateful rhetoric and messages that could incite violence against protected groups.
“For 82 years, we have put people over profits,” REI tweeted on Friday. “We’re pulling all Facebook/Instagram advertising for the month of July.”
“We’re in. We’re Out,” The North Face tweeted on Friday, signaling its support of a Facebook ad boycott.
After sending the tweet, The North Face, which is owned by VF Corp., said in media statement, “Effective June 19, The North Face is halting all U.S. paid advertising with Facebook until stricter policies are put in place to stop racist, violent or hateful content and misinformation from circulating on the platform. We know that for too long harmful, racist rhetoric and misinformation has made the world unequal and unsafe, and we stand with the NAACP and the other organizations who are working to #StopHateforProfit.”
The North Face’s commitment applies to ads on Facebook, but not Facebook-owned Instagram, the brand said in a statement
