Walmart joins exodus of advertisers from Elon Musk’s X
In a move timed to coincide with the holiday shopping season, Walmart has decided to cease advertising on Elon Musk’s X, becoming one of a growing number of major companies that have abandoned the social media platform in recent weeks.
“We aren’t advertising on X as we’ve found other platforms to better reach our customers,” explained a Walmart spokesperson to Reuters, which first reported the retail chain’s decision to suspend ad campaigns on the website formerly known as Twitter.
Musk’s profane response to fleeing advertisers
Walmart’s choice to stop advertising comes in the wake of Musk, X’s owner, telling boycotting advertisers to “go screw yourself” during an interview at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit.
X’s advertiser issues began in mid-November after Musk endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory posted by another user on the platform.
The controversy deepened when a Media Matters report discovered that numerous brands’ advertisements were displayed on pro-Nazi content, adding to X’s problems.
Walmart is just one of many companies to pull out
IBM was the first to pull its ads, with other major companies such as Apple, Disney, Sony, Warner Bros., Comcast, NBCUniversal, and Paramount following suit.
In response to the advertiser boycott, Musk and co. sued Media Matters over its report, laying blame for its lost ad revenue on the organization’s findings. Musk attempted to explain his comments, which had caused trouble for X, but did not offer a clear clarification.
Disney CEO Bob Iger stated that the reason for Disney’s withdrawal from advertising was directly connected to Musk’s public position.
It seems that Walmart is the latest company to make a similar decision in light of Musk’s controversial remarks.
In conclusion, it appears that the multitude of advertisers who have fled from X are making a calculated decision based on Musk’s actions and statements.
