Elon Musk's X expands lawsuit against advertisers to include Lego, Pinterest, and other major brands

[midian182]

In context: Remember last year when Elon Musk sued some of the advertisers who left X, alleging it was part of a coordinated boycott of the site that broke federal antitrust laws? That lawsuit is ongoing, and it has now been broadened to add more brands, including Lego, Nestlé, and Pinterest.

In November 2023, IBM suspended its advertising on X after a report said one of its ads appeared next to posts that promoted Hitler and the Nazi party. More companies later suspended their advertising on the platform, including Disney. It led to X filing a lawsuit in Texas against the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and its Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) initiative, in which the WFA and member companies are accused of violating antitrust laws.

On Saturday, X added Lego, Nestlé, Tyson Foods, Abbott Laboratories, Colgate-Palmolive, Pinterest, and Shell International as defendants in the suit.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants conspired to collectively withhold billions in advertising revenue following Musk's takeover of Twitter in 2022. It named CVS, Mars, Ørsted, and Twitch, which was added later, specifically. Unilever had also been named but was dropped after the two companies reached an agreement.

According to the complaint, the WFA organized an advertiser boycott of Twitter/X through GARM with the goal of "coercing the platform to comply with the GARM Brand Safety Standards to the satisfaction of GARM."

We tried being nice for 2 years and got nothing but empty words.

Now, it is war. https://t.co/MEzH0vqz0p

– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 6, 2024

GARM was launched in 2019 to help the industry address the challenge of illegal or harmful content on digital media platforms and its monetization via advertising.

GARM members agree "to adopt, implement, and enforce GARM's brand safety standards, including by withholding advertising from social media platforms deemed by GARM to be non-compliant with the brand safety standards," the lawsuit states. It alleges that members discontinued or sharply curtailed their ad spending on X after Musk took over.

The WFA discontinued GARM shortly after the lawsuit was filed. The organization wrote that "recent allegations that unfortunately misconstrue its purpose and activities have caused a distraction and significantly drained its resources and finances."

The suit also claims that member companies celebrated when X did not meet its forecasted revenue goals, and that the boycott continues today despite X meeting or exceeding standards set by GARM. It's claimed that ad prices on X remain well below those charged by its closest social media competitors, so "by refraining from purchasing advertising from X, boycotting advertisers are forgoing a valuable opportunity to purchase low-priced advertising inventory on a platform with brand safety that meets or exceeds industry standards."

Musk responded to the advertisers' exodus by telling the brands to "Go f**k yourself" during an interview at The New York Times Dealbook Summit. He later claimed this was about freedom of speech.

Watch my conversation with @ElonMusk: https://t.co/YedkELVhFn

– Andrew Ross Sorkin (@andrewrsorkin) November 29, 2023

X has recently seen several brands increase their advertising spending or return to the site, likely a result of Musk's close ties with the Trump administration. However, the world's richest man reportedly told X employees in January that "user growth is stagnant, revenue is unimpressive, and we're barely breaking even."

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Elon Musk's X expands lawsuit against advertisers to include Lego, Pinterest, and other major brands

 

[MasterMace]

Remember, they claim it's about freedom of speech and to go FYS until suddenly you don't want to talk to them

 

[lonetac]

Sue a company because they dont want to spend money on your platform due to your despicable world views and behaviors. Let us know how that goes over. Its up to companies where they want to advertise.

More man baby antics by the worlds second biggest man baby.

 

[bviktor]

What a *****.

 

[MarkHughes]

If you sit at a table with 9 others and do a nazi salute and they all get up and leave, That wasn't a coordinated boycot. They all just decided not to be associated with you at the same time. Nobody needs to coordinate these things.

An intelligent person might ask, What did I do to make them leave ? An imbecile will just blame the people who left.

 

[The Talking Tech]

Life would be soooooo much better without Musk.

Only if the universe could do something about him and his political boss.

 

[dualkelly]

I am not sure if anyone's made the connection but his obsession's with all things hitler is on full display with his renaming of twitter. the ASCII code 88 is the letter X.

ASCII is what the old homecomputers like the sinclair, the commodores etc used to represent letters. Certain nerds of a certain age often have much of it memorized.
88 is a white supremacist numerical code for "Heil Hitler." H is the eighth letter of the alphabet, so 88 = HH = Heil Hitler.

 

[wiyosaya]

Awww, come on all! Let's throw Musk a massive pity party.

Then again, he's already been given the Official public communications of the NTSB, perhaps unlawfully.

Oh, he's not King. Poor widdle baby. I feel sorry for him.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

I am not sure if anyone's made the connection but his obsession's with all things hitler is on full display with his renaming of twitter. the ASCII code 88 is the letter X.

ASCII is what the old homecomputers like the sinclair, the commodores etc used to represent letters. Certain nerds of a certain age often have much of it memorized.
88 is a white supremacist numerical code for "Heil Hitler." H is the eighth letter of the alphabet, so 88 = HH = Heil Hitler.

What a stretch LMAO

I don't see anything about Nazism in this documentary about the name from 1.5 years ago. The only concern is people tending to think it's a pornographic site based on other uses for the letter X.

 

[RudyBob]

This is great.

 

[wiyosaya]

I think Musk is doubling-down to distract from the illegal and highly questionable he is pulling in Washington under the guise of DOGE.

This move is direct from the Trump playbook.

 

[AnilD]

Musk: "Go fk yourself." Also Musk: "Why are advertisers leaving?"

Elon suing brands for not advertising is like a restaurant owner suing people for not eating there.

 

[Kashim]

Ah America, land of the frivolous lawsuits. This nonsense will do nothing except enrich the lawyers involved in Musk's clown show.

 

[PrettyKitten800]

Honestly, I will believe the commenter with the bananas ASCII theory before anyone who acts like the WSJ is an authority on *anything*. Talk about LMAO... What flavour Koolaid are they handing you?

a stretch LMAO

I don't see anything about Nazism in this documentary about the name from 1.5 years ago. The only concern is people tending to think it's a pornographic site based on other uses for the letter X.

 

[Cheap Scotch]

Honestly, I will believe the commenter with the bananas ASCII theory before anyone who acts like the WSJ is an authority on *anything*. Talk about LMAO... What flavour Koolaid are they handing you?

WSJ was purchased by News Corp years ago. From the same brilliant minds who brought you Fox News.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

I don't even understand what Musk's legal argument is here.

Why are any of these companies obligated to advertise on X, and how is it the Government's business to tell them that they either have to advertise there or presumably pay X/Musk damages.

Luckily we have Musk's buddy installing the judges and clearly all the rules are make believe anyway so I'm sure this will all end well...

 

[Godel]

Ah America, land of the frivolous lawsuits. This nonsense will do nothing except enrich the lawyers involved in Musk's clown show.

That's if he decides to actually pay his lawyers.

"User growth is stagnant, revenue is unimpressive, and we're barely breaking even."

Damn, he's still breaking even?

 

[dualkelly]

What a stretch LMAO

I don't see anything about Nazism in this documentary about the name from 1.5 years ago. The only concern is people tending to think it's a pornographic site based on other uses for the letter X.

You sound very invested on trying to keep Elon from being called a Nazi. Do you know what Nazi sympathizers are called? Just a normal Nazi. All the whataboutisim and excuse for Elon when he was making Nazi jokes after his Heil H. The greatest Generation of Americans Killed Nazis an entire world war was fought over them.

 

[magoid]

While those companies found in Musk a easy scapegoat to cut spending on advertisement, X is not alone in being hit hard by cuts in this sector. Youtube also got it in the guts, and they transferred that loss into youtubers, with the smaller ones being hit the hardest.

If you talk to small websites that have a couple decades of operation, they also say that ad revenue is the lowest it has ever been, with ad agencies also demanding in-your-face ads if you want any real money from them.

We are talking about money, so is not surprising companies are colluding to make more of it.

 

[BogdanR]

Somehow this reminds me of the ending of that Bugs Bunny cartoon when the Emperor Nero was playing his fiddle while going down.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

Honestly, I will believe the commenter with the bananas ASCII theory before anyone who acts like the WSJ is an authority on *anything*. Talk about LMAO... What flavour Koolaid are they handing you?

Then cite a source that shows Elon Musk was a Nazi prior to a year ago.

You sound very invested on trying to keep Elon from being called a Nazi. Do you know what Nazi sympathizers are called? Just a normal Nazi. All the whataboutisim and excuse for Elon when he was making Nazi jokes after his Heil H. The greatest Generation of Americans Killed Nazis an entire world war was fought over them.

Wow, all of a sudden there are a hundred million Nazis somehow! Or maybe there's literally no basis for him being a Nazi. You have the burden of proof to show that he is one.

Let's actually look at his so called "Heil H" (a salute to a dead guy apparently). He banged his chest and then he sent the same arm to the side to beckon to the crowd. The only thing that resembles a Nazi salute there is the fact that his fingers were as stiff as his arm. His arm didn't come from his side, it didn't get raised in front of him, and it wasn't held in that position for more than half a second. He wasn't talking about anything racist (nor is he racist as far as anyone can prove) AND the Anti-Defamation League well known for fighting anti-Semitism says that it was NOT a Nazi salute.

It's clear that you are very invested in keeping Elon labeled a Nazi. But unlike you, I'm not going to make any unfounded implications that you are associated with some extremist group because I don't blindly follow propaganda. You should reconsider your position and who you're listening to.

 

[BogdanR]

Then cite a source that shows Elon Musk was a Nazi prior to a year ago.

Wow, all of a sudden there are a hundred million Nazis somehow! Or maybe there's literally no basis for him being a Nazi. You have the burden of proof to show that he is one.

Let's actually look at his so called "Heil H" (a salute to a dead guy apparently). He banged his chest and then he sent the same arm to the side to beckon to the crowd. The only thing that resembles a Nazi salute there is the fact that his fingers were as stiff as his arm. His arm didn't come from his side, it didn't get raised in front of him, and it wasn't held in that position for more than half a second. He wasn't talking about anything racist (nor is he racist as far as anyone can prove) AND the Anti-Defamation League well known for fighting anti-Semitism says that it was NOT a Nazi salute.

It's clear that you are very invested in keeping Elon labeled a Nazi. But unlike you, I'm not going to make any unfounded implications that you are associated with some extremist group because I don't blindly follow propaganda. You should reconsider your position and who you're listening to.

Read it thoroughly. It was a nazi salute alright no matter how you slice it or dice it.

Has Elon Musk responded to questions about his hand gesture during his speech at the Capital One Arena?

Alex Mann's answer: Yes and he said Yes, he uses the names of the people who enacted the Holocaust and WW2 as puns in a joke. Let me remind you all of what happened. Also going through comments I am going to do what I also do and debunk the BS and have my last word on this subject. I have a hea...

www.quora.com

 

[TempleOrion]

Then cite a source that shows Elon Musk was a Nazi prior to a year ago.

Wow, all of a sudden there are a hundred million Nazis somehow! Or maybe there's literally no basis for him being a Nazi. You have the burden of proof to show that he is one.

Let's actually look at his so called "Heil H" (a salute to a dead guy apparently). He banged his chest and then he sent the same arm to the side to beckon to the crowd. The only thing that resembles a Nazi salute there is the fact that his fingers were as stiff as his arm. His arm didn't come from his side, it didn't get raised in front of him, and it wasn't held in that position for more than half a second. He wasn't talking about anything racist (nor is he racist as far as anyone can prove) AND the Anti-Defamation League well known for fighting anti-Semitism says that it was NOT a Nazi salute.

It's clear that you are very invested in keeping Elon labeled a Nazi. But unlike you, I'm not going to make any unfounded implications that you are associated with some extremist group because I don't blindly follow propaganda. You should reconsider your position and who you're listening to.

Love how some Nazis are ecstatic that one of their own has come out of the closet at last (well, he *is* third generation fascist so no surprise there) whereas _other_ Nazis are bending over backwards to pretend Musk *isn't* a Nazi...

You couldn't make it up.... just when you thought the US clown show right whingers couldn't get any dumber (and funnier)