The North Face, Patagonia among businesses boycotting Facebook

Several outdoor sports brands, including The North Face and Patagonia, have joined the Stop Hate for Profit campaign, which is a boycott of Facebook. The campaign was started by Color Of Change, an organization focused on racial justice that helps people “respond effectively to injustice in the world around us” and is working to “create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America.” The organization has called out Facebook for the monetization of hate speech and the silencing of Black voices, and now companies like Patagonia and The North Face have pulled their ads from the social media platform until the company makes what they deem the appropriate changes to its system.

Patagonia is proud to join the Stop Hate for Profit campaign. We will pull all ads on Facebook and Instagram, effective immediately, through at least the end of July, pending meaningful action from the social media giant.

— Patagonia (@patagonia) June 21, 2020

Stop Hate for Profit

Color Of Change was joined by several other organizations, including the NAACP, in helping to create and promote the campaign. The groups asked companies that advertise on Facebook to “hit pause on ad spending for July 2020” to show the social media giant that it has to “address racism across [its] platforms.” 

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According to the Color Of Change website, the organization has been asking Facebook to change its ways and silence racist voices for five years, only to be ignored. Now, following the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and so many other Black Americans, Color Of Change has said “enough is enough,” and it has enlisted the help of Facebook’s advertisers.

We’re in. We’re Out @Facebook #StopHateForProfit

Learn more: https://t.co/uAT7u7mjBG https://t.co/jVxTIH5ThQ

— The North Face (@thenorthface) June 19, 2020

“Let’s send Facebook a powerful message,” wrote the Color Of Change and Stop Hate for Profit teams. “Your profits will never be worth promoting hate, bigotry, racism, anti-Semitism and violence.”

Support from outdoor brands 

Along with Patagonia and The North Face, Eddie Bauer and American outdoor equipment company REI Co-op have pledged to withdraw Facebook ad campaigns through the month of July. Companies are also pulling ads from Instagram and any other Facebook-owned platforms. Patagonia tweeted that it is “proud to join the Stop Hate for Profit campaign” and that it has taken down ads on Facebook and Instagram until at least the end of July, “pending meaningful action from the social media giant.” The company went on to write, “For too long, Facebook has failed to take sufficient steps to stop the spread of hateful lies and dangerous propaganda on its platform.”

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The North Face wrote less than Patagonia, but the message was the same. “We’re out, Facebook,” the company tweeted. This is the latest instance of companies taking steps to improve and help with social issues around the world.