Unilever and Mars sued by Elon Musk’s X over boycott claims
Elon Musk’s X is suing food and drink conglomerates Unilever and Mars over claims of a “massive advertiser boycott”.
X, formerly known as Twitter, filed a lawsuit in Texas against the World Federation of Advertisers and individual companies that includes Unilever and Mars.
The social media tycoon has accused Unilever, whose portfolio includes Marmite, Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s, and Mars, which also owns Dolmio, Snickers and Skittles, of conspiring to boycott the social media platform, deliberately causing a financial loss.
Musk tweeted: “We tried peace for 2 years, now it is war.”
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In a statement, X chief executive Linda Yaccarino added: “People are hurt when the marketplace of ideas is constricted. No small group of people should monopolize what gets monetized.”
“The consequence – perhaps the intent – of this boycott was to seek to deprive X’s users, be they sports fans, gamers, journalists, activists, parents or political and corporate leaders, of the Global Town Square.”
X’s actions come amid the platform steady losing ad revenue, since Musk purchased the company in 2022.
Unilever and Mars have been contacted for comment.
2 Comments. Leave new
Upset companies don’t want to work with your company, so you’ll shout slanderous accusations and try to sue – surely reviewing the reasons they are not working with you and either addressing them, or just accepting it and saving millions in time and money is the right and moral thing to do? I’m assuming significant tax breaks and avoidance more than covers the cost though ehh, and the free publicity and advertising, which also forcefully links those companies with yours through your international actions….
Surely companies are entitled to spend their advertising budgets? How they wish.