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    Verizon Joins Ad Boycott of Facebook

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments1901 Views
    In this July 30, 2019, file photo, the social media application, Facebook is displayed on Apple's App Store in Chicago. Several civil-rights and other advocacy groups are calling on large advertisers to stop Facebook ad campaigns during July 2020 because they say the social network isn’t doing enough to curtail racist and violent content on its platform. (AP Photo/Amr Alfiky, File)
    SAN FRANCISCO (AP) --

    Verizon is joining an escalating movement to siphon advertising away from Facebook in an effort to pressure the company into doing more to prevent racist and violent information from being shared on its social networking service.

    The decision announced Thursday by one of the world's biggest telecommunications companies is part of an boycott organized by civil rights and other advocacy groups under the rallying cry of "#StopHateforProfit." The protest, spurred by last month's killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, is supposed to last through July.

    "We have strict content policies in place and have zero tolerance when they are breached, we take action," New York-based Verizon said in a statement. "We're pausing our advertising until Facebook can create an acceptable solution that makes us comfortable." 

    Verizon noted that it has previously stopped advertising at other popular online destinations, such as Google's YouTube video service, when it has felt its promotions might appear alongside content inconsistent with the company's values.

    In its own statement, Facebook executive Carolyn Everson said the company respected Verizon's decision and remains committed to purging hateful content from its services.

    "Our conversations with marketers and civil rights organizations are about how, together, we can be a force for good," said Everson, vice president of Facebook's global business group.

    Other advertisers who have pledged to stay off Facebook and other company services such as Instagram include three major outdoor gear companies, Patagonia, The North Face and REI. 

    Common Sense, one of the boycott organizers, said other companies who have agree to "pause" their Facebook advertising include retailer Eddie Bauer, web browser maker Mozilla and and a movie studio, Magnolia Pictures.

    The boycott, in theory, could pinch Facebook's profits since the company makes most of its money from ads targeted at the interests that more than 2 billion people share on its various services. Investors, so far, don't appear worried about that, though.

    Shares in the company based in Menlo Park, California, hit an all-time high $245.19 earlier this week and haven't fallen dramatically. The stock closed Thursday at $235.68.

    Category:News
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    Is “Glicked” The New “Barbenheimer”? “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” Hit Theater Screens

    Thursday, November 21, 2024

    "Barbenheimer" was a phenomenon impossible to manufacture. But, more than a year later, that hasn't stopped people from trying to make "Glicked" — or even "Babyratu" — happen.

    The counterprogramming of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" in July 2023 hit a nerve culturally and had the receipts to back it up. Unlike so many things that begin as memes, it transcended its online beginnings. Instead of an either-or, the two movies ultimately complemented and boosted one another at the box office.

    And ever since, moviegoers, marketers and meme makers have been trying to recreate that moment, searching the movie release schedule for odd mashups and sending candidates off into the social media void. Most attempts have fizzled (sorry, "Saw Patrol" ).

    This weekend is perhaps the closest approximation yet as the Broadway musical adaptation "Wicked" opens Friday against the chest-thumping sword-and-sandals epic "Gladiator II." Two big studio releases (Universal and Paramount), with one-name titles, opposite tones and aesthetics and big blockbuster energy — it was already halfway there before the name game began: "Wickiator," "Wadiator," "Gladwick" and even the eyebrow raising "Gladicked" have all been suggested.

    "'Glicked' rolls off the tongue a little bit more," actor Fred Hechinger said at the New York screening of "Gladiator II" this week. "I think we should all band around 'Glicked.' It gets too confusing if you have four or five different names for it."

    As with "Barbenheimer," as reductive as it might seem, "Glicked" also has the male/female divide that make the fan art extra silly. One is pink and bright and awash in sparkles, tulle, Broadway bangers and brand tie-ins; The other is all sweat and sand, blood and bulging... Read More

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