American multinational retail corporation, Walmart, has become the latest company to stop advertising on X (formerly Twitter).
Announcing this move on Friday, a spokesperson at the company said,
“We aren’t advertising on X, as we have found other platforms to better reach our customers”.
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Speaking on Walmart’s decision, the head of operations at X, Joe Benarroch told CNN via a statement that disclosed that brands such as Wlamart and several others who advertise on the micro-blogging platform have continued to garner massive impressions and followers.
In his words,
“Walmart has a wonderful community on X, and with half a billion people on X, every year the platform experienced 15 billion impressions about the holidays alone with more than 50 percent of X users doing most or all of their shopping online”.
Benarroch further added that Walmart’s decision to halt its ads on X, is not a direct result of Musk’s recent outburst, noting that the giant retail company is still active on the platform.
Walmart joins the likes of other big brands such as IBM, Disney, Apple, and Amazon, amongst others, that have paused their advertisement on X.
Recall that earlier this week, while speaking at at the DealBook Summit in New York, X owner, Elon Musk hit hard at brands that have paused advertising on the platform, accusing them of blackmail.
Musk stated that if anybody is going to blackmail him with advertising, they should blackmail him with money instead. He further added that he would not hesitate to call out brands that want to kill the company, for the public to hold them responsible.
While defending his speech, X CEO, Linda Yaccarino said that Musk gave a candid interview at DealBook, noting that X is enabling information independence that is comfortable for some people.
In her words,
“Today Elon Musk gave a wide-ranging and candid interview at Dealbook 2023. He also offered an apology, an explanation, and an explicit point of view about our position. X is enabling information independence that’s uncomfortable for some people. We’re a platform that allows people to make their own decisions.
“And here’s my perspective when it comes to advertising: X is standing at a unique and amazing intersection of Free Speech and Main Street, and the X community is powerful and is here to welcome you. To our partners who believe in our meaningful work. Thank You”
The exit of advertisers on X began when Musk promoted and endorsed anti-Semitic and racist statements on the platform. Things started to go bad when a report from liberal watchdog group Media Matters said that several ads had appeared next to antisemitic posts.
It got worse when Musk commented, “the actual truth” on a post that claimed that Jewish people have a “dialectical hatred” of white people. His inflammatory posts on the microblogging platform, among other things have led to the exit of about 200 big advertisers on the platform.
American journalists Casey Newton, said that every day more brands are waking up to the reality that X is a cesspool. He added that the global town square is now dispersed across many different platforms and increasingly most conversations are taking place elsewhere.
According to reports, if advertisers continue to pause their ads on X, it could cost the company up to $75 million this quarter, which could spell disaster for the company. Musk acknowledged that an extended boycott could bankrupt X, stating that the public would blame the brands for the collapse, rather than put the blame on him.
Meanwhile, X seems to have a new survival plan to stay afloat as advertising revenue continues to decline. A report by the Financial Times disclosed that X is ramping up a new advertising strategy.
As brands continue to exit the platform, the company is looking to turn to small and medium-sized advertisers to generate revenue.
A spokesperson at X said,
“Small and medium businesses are a very significant engine that we have definitely underplayed for a long time”. The spokesperson added that roping in small and medium brands was “always part of the plan” and the company will now go even further with it.