Mondelez India is the latest to join Volkswagen, Pfizer and General Mills in temporarily pausing advertising on Twitter in the wake of the takeover of the social media behemoth by Elon Musk on October 27. More importantly, many other Indian brands are planning to do the same.
At present, companies have pressed pause on advertising as they believe misinformation and objectionable content may be allowed to go on the platform under the billionaire’s leadership, and that ads may appear near objectionable content.
A spokesperson for Mondelez India, India’s largest chocolate maker, told the ET: “We have paused paid advertising on Twitter as we seek clarity on the new direction and controls within the platform,” adding that the company has taken this stance “because it takes brand safety very seriously.”
The financial daily quoted Sam Balsara, chairman of diversified advertising, media and entertainment group Madison World, as saying, “Brands are being cautious, and some may be pausing advertising on Twitter.” He went on add that this is the issue even though Indian brands’ ad spends are small on the micro-blogging platform.
The recent controversies at the social media company have rattled some advertisers and users, and has changed the way advertisers view it. Plus, the turmoil has raised doubts about whether Twitter is a safe media channel for desired consumers.
Shashank Srivastava, executive director at Maruti Suzuki, told the financial daily: “As and when evidence presents that a platform has failed to keep our brand safety guidelines, we will take action.
“We are not averse to any social platform like Twitter, which can be very effectively used to engage with people who have interest in our brand or have questions from us. That said, it goes without saying that we would never like to be part of any negative content on any platform,” he added.
As per consumer and markets data company Statista, Twitter had more than 23. 6 million users in India as of January 2022.
Earlier, the new owner of Twitter had addressed advertisers directly via tweet which read: “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”.
“Many brands we represent have halted ads on Twitter on their own or are making queries about it as they watch the situation with caution…” a senior executive of a leading media buying company told the daily on conditions of anonymity.
