The Walt Disney Co. has "dramatically" slashed its advertising budget on Facebook and Facebook-owned Instagram, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
It's the latest setback for the social network, which is facing a growing advertising boycott over its policies and actions on hate speech on its platforms. The Journal, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, said the time frame for Disney's pullback was not clear.
Disney was Facebook's biggest U.S. advertiser for the first six months of 2020, according to research firm Pathmatics Inc. Disney joins hundreds of other companies that have paused spending on the service. The report did not say whether Disney is officially joining the ad boycott. Some companies, such as Starbucks, are pulling back social media advertising due to hate speech and other concerns but have not officially joined the "Stop Hate for Profit" campaign.
Representatives for Disney did not immediately respond to a Sunday message seeking comment.
The economic fallout from the pandemic has also cut into companies' advertising budgets.
Facebook said it does not comment on individual advertisers. The company said in an emailed statement Sunday that it invests "billions of dollars each year to keep our community safe and continuously work with outside experts to review and update our policies."
"We know we have more work to do, and we'll continue to work with civil rights groups, (the Global Alliance for Responsible Media coalition), and other experts to develop even more tools, technology and policies to continue this fight," Facebook said.
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More