Ikea, Walmart and Peloton have become the latest major brands to pull their Facebook advertising spend but have all chosen to not announce it publicly.
According to a new report published by Media Matters, Ikea paused its advertising on Facebook in early July but the Swedish furniture giant refrained from announcing the move or its direct support for the #StopHateForProfit campaign.
Walmart, McDonald’s, Kohl’s, Kellogg’s, Peloton, Dell, Allstate and Geico have all also reportedly stopped or significantly reduced their Facebook advertising spend over the past month.
All of these brands opted to fly largely under the radar and their action has remained largely unreported.
Despite the lack of publicity Pathmatics, a company which tracks digital spending, estimates that the combined advertising spend of these nine companies in 2019 was $335 million, suggesting their withdrawal could have significant implications for the social media giant.
READ MORE: Zuckerberg says advertisers will return “soon enough” as Lego becomes latest to join boycott
Walmart alone was Facebook’s second largest advertiser last year spending over $145 million, and is understood to be in the top 15 spenders this year until it pulled its adverts at the start of this month.
McDonald’s is also understood to have pulled its adverts on June 30 and is reportedly revaluating its advertising strategy more permanently.
The #StopHateForProfit boycott now included more than 400 companies and some reports estimate that it has cost Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg as much as $72 billion.
However, the majority of companies pledged to pull their advertising spend for July alone and it is as yet unclear how many will return to the platform throughout August.
Zuckerberg has held firm and despite making some minor concessions, believes advertisers will return “soon enough”.
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