TOUGH LOVE, TECH
Unilever to Google & F’book: Clean up or lose ads
Keith Weed is mad as hell about online fake news and toxic content and he’s not going to take it any more.
Weed, who controls a nearly $10 billion ad budget at Unilever, sent a clear message to Facebook, Google, Amazon and other tech companies on Monday: Clean up your toxic sites or we’re cutting you off.
Unilever, the maker of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Dove soap, spent roughly $2.4 billion of its ad budget online last year — and Weed is fed up with having his ads run alongside terrorist videos or content that fails to protect children.
Weed, the consumer products giant’s chief marketing officer, said that the tech industry must work to improve transparency and consumer trust in an era of fake news and “toxic” online content.
“It is critical that our brands remain not only in a safe environment, but a suitable one,” Weed said in a speech delivered at the Interactive Advertising Bureau conference.
“Unilever, as a trusted advertiser, does not want to advertise on platforms which do not make a positive contribution to society,” he added.
Weed also railed against “fraudulent practice, fake news, and Russians influencing the US election.”
“This is a deep and systematic issue,” he said. “An issue of trust that fundamentally threatens to undermine the relationship between consumers and brands.”
Unilever also said it is committed to tackling gender stereotypes in advertising and will only partner with organizations that are committed to creating better digital infrastructure.
“Fake news, racism, sexism, terrorists spreading messages of hate, toxic content directed at children — parts of the internet we have ended up with [are] a million miles from where we thought it would take us,” Weed said at the conference.
“It is in the digital media in- dustry’s interest to listen and act on this,” he continued. “Before viewers stop viewing, advertisers stop advertising and publishers stop publishing.”
Google and Facebook, helmed by Larry Page and Mark Zuckerberg, respectively, control 60 percent of online ad spending, according to eMarketerhave, and thus have come under fire for being too lax when it comes to policing their content to make sure it is not bot-driven.
Weed also cited Jeff Bezos’ Amazon in his critique.
Unilever joins other advertisers that last year hit Facebook for running their ads alongside videos and content for extremist organizations.
Google’s YouTube, which faced an advertiser boycott last year over the same issues, has started to make changes to ensure advertisers don’t flee their sites.
Facebook quickly acknowledged Weed’s comments, saying, “We fully support Unilever’s commitments and are working closely with them.”
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Facebook shares gained 30 cents, to $176.41, while Google parent Alphabet added $8.29, to $1,054.56, and Amazon popped 3.5%, to $1,386.23.
Unilever’s ADRs rose 1.8 percent, to $54.51.