Metro Vancouver–based Arc'teryx, lululemon athletica, and MEC join 30-day advertising boycott of Facebook

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's attempt to curb a growing advertiser backlash hasn't halted the number of companies taking a 30-day timeout.

Three Metro Vancouver companies—technical apparel manufacturers and retailers Arc'teryx and lululemon athletica, and outdoor retailer MEC—have joined the Stop Hate for Profit campaign.

On June 17, Color of Change, the NCAAP, the Anti-Defamation League, Sleeping Giants, Free Press, and Common Sense Media came together to ask advertisers not to market themselves on Facebook in July.

The movement is in response to Facebook allowing hate speech against people demonstrating for justice for police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others.

"From the monetization of hate speech to discrimination in their algorithms to the proliferation of voter suppression to the silencing of Black voices, Facebook has refused to take responsibility for hate, bias, and discrimination growing on their platforms," Color of Change said in a news release.

Stop Hate for Profit coalition has identified 10 things that advertisers should ask Facebook to do, including updating algorithms to stop recommending people to join hate groups.

Another demand is for Facebook to "prohibit political ads that make bald-faced lies".

As of this writing, Facebook shares have risen 1.73 percent this morning on NASDAQ to US$217.86. 

That came after a double-digit percent drop on Friday (June 26), including in after-hours trading, following Coca-Cola's decision to take a 30-day timeout on social-media advertising.

Honda and Levi's are two other big names that have made this decision. The complete list is available here.