Walmart Joins A Bunch Of Major Companies Halting Advertising On X
Retail giant Walmart has decided to stop advertising on Elon Musk”s X, citing limited results. A spokesperson for Walmart alleged that X has poor customer reach compared to other platforms.
“We aren”t advertising on X as we”ve found other platforms to better reach our customers.” Reuters reported, quoting Walmart”s spokesperson. Joe Benarroch, the head of operations, confirmed the development, saying Walmart has not placed ads on X since October.
Benarroch has also clarified that Walmart is trying to gain organic reach with its community on X, which has over one million members.
“Walmart has a wonderful community of more than a million people on X, and with half a billion people on X, every year the platform experiences 15 billion impressions about the holidays alone, with more than 50% of X users doing most or all of their shopping online,” Benarroch said in a statement.
According to the report, experts have warned that the number of companies that are abstaining from X has been increasing, and the ad shortage is potentially catastrophic for the platform. Exports attribute the companies” decision to leave the platform to owner Elon Musk”s decision to endorse anti-Semitic posts on X.
In early November, Walt Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery decided to suspend advertising on X in response to antisemitic posts on the platform. The companies accused Musk of having endorsed such posts. Consequently, Musk was pushed to make an apology regarding the issue.
Later, while speaking at the New York Times DealBook event, Musk expressed apprehensions regarding the move made by Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger, calling it blackmailing. Bob Iger had commented that X is not an ideal platform to partner with, given that it contains racist posts.
According to Reuters, X”s ad sales representatives have also been embarrassed by Elon Musk”s outburst on fleeing advertisers. The other corporations that left X include Apple, IBM, Sony, Disney, Comcast (including NBC Universal), and Paramount, and they contribute almost 7% of X”s total income.
