Audi, Cheerios Maker General Mills Pause Advertising on Twitter

General Mills and Luxury automaker Audi of America mentioned on Thursday they’ve paused promoting on Twitter, days after the social media platform was acquired by billionaire Elon Musk for $44 billion (roughly Rs. 3,37,500 crore). “We will continue to monitor this new direction and evaluate our marketing spend,” a General Mills spokesperson mentioned.

Audi of America, the Herndon, Virginia-based US unit of Audi – a Volkswagen Group model – mentioned it will “continue to evaluate the situation.”

The two corporations be a part of prime US automaker General Motors, which final week mentioned it had briefly halted paid promoting on Twitter.

The advert pauses come after Musk mentioned in an open letter to advertisers final week that he desires Twitter to be “the most respected advertising platform” in a bid to achieve their belief.

Ad gross sales accounted for greater than 90 p.c of Twitter’s income within the second quarter, and Reuters reported earlier that the corporate was struggling to maintain its most energetic customers who’re very important to the enterprise.

At a presentation for advertisers in May, some advert companies and types had been already skeptical and anxious over Twitter’s future.

Earlier on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources that Oreo maker Mondelez International and US drugmaker Pfizer additionally briefly halted promoting with Twitter.

Twitter, Mondelez and Pfizer didn’t instantly reply to Reuters’ requests for remark.

On the eve of the deal’s closing final week, Musk appealed on to advertisers in an open-letter tweet, “Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!… Twitter aspires to be the most respected advertising platform in the world that strengthens your brand and grows your enterprise.”

Last week, Musk tweeted that the corporate will kind a content material moderation council “with widely diverse viewpoints.” Musk mentioned no main content material choices or account reinstatements will occur earlier than the council convenes.

The self-described “free speech absolutist” mentioned in May he would reverse Twitter’s ban on former US President Donald Trump, who was faraway from the microblogging web site in January final 12 months over the danger of additional incitement of violence after the storming of the US Capitol.

The query of reinstating Trump on the social media platform has been seen as a litmus check of how far Musk will go in making adjustments, regardless that Trump himself has mentioned he wouldn’t return.

© Thomson Reuters 2022