Walmart won’t advertise on X anymore

Several leading companies are distancing themselves from the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) in the context of the ongoing controversy surrounding several comments made by the platform’s owner, Elon Musk, and Walmart, is one of the latest companies on the list to leave the X platform. stating that it has found other platforms that allow it to better reach its customers, and citing Musk’s recent controversial proposals as reasons for their departure, the New York Times reports.

Walmart becomes latest firm to pull advertising on Elon Musk’s X https://t.co/UdX79HbvZV pic.twitter.com/8rIa6l2xuR

— New York Post (@nypost) December 1, 2023

Elon Musk’s recent inflammatory comments towards advertisers who have decided to abandon the platform have raised tensions between the parties, with the result that more and more companies have opted to withdraw their ads from the Musk-run platform.

Walmart, Disney, Sony and IBM ended their advertising campaigns in response to Musk’s support for an anti-Semitic tweet, while Musk responded that it was one of the stupidest things he’d ever done.

Companies have been alarmed in recent months by Musk’s content moderation decisions and the increase in provocative or harmful content since his acquisition of the company.

Elon Musk has tried to downplay the effect of the ad cuts, but reports from major companies and their actions paint a very different picture. Airbnb and Uber have drastically reduced their advertising budgets on the platform, while Microsoft, Amazon and Coca-Cola, as well as other major brands, have stopped their ad spending altogether.

These changes could have serious financial consequences for X, as the platform could lose up to $75 million by the end of the year, according to the New York Times, which obtained internal documents indicating that advertisers are reluctant to advertise due to Elon Musk’s recent behavior.

X executives say they will not bow to outside pressure.