We have never suggested that bev/al marketers should run ads in one media, or not run ads in another.
But this is different. Facebook has been running videos of people being decapitated. It’s not accidental, it’s a conscious decision, as the BBC has reported. But Huffington Post notes Facebook’s warped sense of morality: Decapitation is okay, but nipples are still a no-no. (We don’t think nudity has a place on Facebook, either. But showing beheadings is far, far worse.)
If you support decapitation, run ads on Facebook. If you don’t, make sure your ads don’t run on Facebook.
It may even be time to consider whether to maintain a Facebook page at all. Bev/al companies have been exceptionally responsible about where they advertise, going out of their way to avoid advertising to youth, for example, and to avoid showing nudity in ads.
If advertising in media predominately focused on youth is bad, isn’t it much worse to have your brand appear on a site that runs training films on how to behead other human beings?
This is not a business issue. It’s a moral issue, and advertisers have the power to do something about it — namely, not run ads on media that show beheadings.
When Facebook — or any other media, for that matter — runs videos of decapitations, it is simply running training films about how to do it. If you advertise on those sites, you are endorsing decapitations. And that’s something you shouldn’t do — both for business reasons and for moral reasons.