Heather Herbert

Renowned Brands Reserve Ads and Abandon Elon Musk’s X Altogether: A RN Business Report

In the “Reliable Sources” newsletter, where daily insights into an ever-changing media landscape are offered, an interesting narrative about X, owned by Elon Musk, was featured.

Major advertisers distancing themselves from X barely tells half the tale. Recently, some highly regarded media entities went one step further. Not only have they paused their paid marketing on the controversial social media platform, but they have also completely stopped posting. This eerie silence on what was once a revolutionary site deemed the world’s “digital town square” is notable.

Long-standing accounts of industry giants like Disney, Paramount, Lionsgate, Sony Pictures, Universal, and Warner Bros. Discovery have not made any new posts on X for about ten days. This hiatus follows an alarming endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory by Musk, which shockingly, still lacks an apology.

No official comment was received from these big studios when contacted by CNN. However, inside sources from Paramount and WBD hint that this silence is intentional, driven by concerns over brand safety within the X community.

But it’s not just the corporate profiles that have become inactive on X. The most highly followed accounts linked with Disney, such as @StarWars, @Pixar, and @MarvelStudios have also withdrawn from X. Notably, they used to frequently engage their massive followers on this platform. Instead, these media houses have migrated to Meta’s rival platform, Threads, where they continue to post actively.

One notable case is “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”. The show chose Threads to announce Colbert’s break due to appendicitis rather than their once favoured platform, X. Musk’s support of the antisemitic theory seems to have driven the show to flip its previously X-centric strategy.

On reaching out to X for comments, a representative chose not to directly address the exodus of these media powerhouses from the platform. This surely must strike a worrying chord within the social media company starved not just of ad revenue; but even more devastatingly, of engaging content, especially from global household names whose contributions had positioned X as a real-time discussion hub.

It could be possible that these brands might change their direction, resuming their posts and advertisements on X. However, it wouldn’t be the first time an outlet encountered such a mass exodus. But until then, with Musk persisting as the determining force of X, and his contributions to contentious rhetoric vital, the risk-reward balance to collaborate with the platform remains skewed.

This brings back memories of Tucker Carlson who infamously deterred most advertisers from Fox News’ 8pm hour owing to his decided views.

Moreover, the continued departure of additional companies and celebrities from Musk’s X to other social networks is likely to dampen its initial charm, providing all the more reason for the average users to abandon the troubled platform.

Platformer’s Casey Newton observes the increasing realization among brands that Twitter is going downhill and that X has turned into a dumpster. He says, “The global town square is now dispersed across many different platforms, and increasingly the most relevant conversations are taking place elsewhere.”