Diageo Suspends Social Media Advertising Tomorrow

Spirit industry giant Diageo issued a statement on their official Twitter account that the group “will pause all paid advertising globally on major social media accounts” beginning tomorrow (Wednesday, July 1, 2020).

Diageo is the owner of prominent Scotch whisky brands such as Johnnie Walker, Caol Ila and Lavagulin as well as bourbon brand Bulleit, Canadian whisky brand Crown Royal and Tennessee whiskey brand George Dickel. Diageo said their social media paid advertising suspension action is partly “to promote inclusion and diversity including through our marketing campaigns”.

Diageo joins some of the world’s biggest consumer goods companies – Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Starbucks, Unilever – to pull their advertising on social media in recent weeks, originally as part of the #StopHateForProfit message, a civil rights groups-sourced initiative begun on June 17 as an ad boycott of Facebook only, limited to the month of July 2020, but which has quickly turned into a broader movement.