Ecco said it is continuously reviewing advertising efforts on social media platforms “to be in alignment with company values” after its U.S. arm earlier this month joined a growing list of firms boycotting Facebook and Instagram to protest policies for handling online hate speech and misinformation. Ecco USA is pausing Facebook and Instagram advertising at least through the end of July. Facebook and its Instagram subsidiary are the target of the “StopHateforProfit” campaign launched on June 17 by a coalition of civil rights groups including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and The Anti-Defamation League. The coalition is asking businesses to halt advertising on the two social medium platforms to force Facebook to change the way it handles hate speech and misinformation.
Aside from The North Face, Patagonia, Merrell and other outdoor companies, athletic footwear brands like Vans, Adidas, Reebok and Puma are among those that have joined the boycott. Facebook posted $69,655 million in advertising revenues in 2019, up by 27 percent compared to the year earlier. In the first quarter of 2020, advertising revenues totaled $17,440 million, a 17 percent increase on the year earlier. The “StopHateforProfit” coalition charges that Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, “did not offer any tangible plans on how Facebook will address the rampant disinformation and violent conspiracies on its platform” in a July 7 meeting.
