Patagonia Boycotts Facebook Ads to 'Stop Hate For Profit'

On Sunday, the outdoor apparel company pledged to support the NAACP-backed campaign in a bid to force the social media platform to change its handling of discrimination and hate speech. Patagonia will adhere to the boycott — which also extends to the Facebook-owned Instagram — and pull all their advertising "at least through the end of July, pending meaningful action from the social media giant," per the company's Head of Marketing, Cory Bayers.

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"For too long, Facebook has failed to take sufficient steps to stop the spread of hateful lies and dangerous propaganda on its platform," Patagonia tweeted. "From secure elections to a global pandemic to racial justice, the stakes are too high to sit back and let the company continue to be complicit in spreading disinformation and fomenting fear and hatred."

The company then went on state that the potential profits earned from Facebook advertising "will never be worth promoting hate, bigotry, racism, anti-Semitism and violence," before adding that they want to help "ensure that Americans have access to free and fair elections this fall, we can't stand by and contribute resources to companies that contribute to the problem."

That said, Patagonia isn't the only brand participating in the #StopHateForProfit campaign. On Friday, both The North Face and REI announced that they would stop purchasing ads from Facebook, as part of their push to place "people over profits."

For 82 years, we have put people over profits. We're pulling all Facebook/Instagram advertising for the month of July. #StopHateForProfit

Learn more: https://t.co/XCQSnUO8XJ https://t.co/Jp1GaKdCUN

— REI (@REI) June 19, 2020

In response to the announcements, Facebook — which generated $70 billion in ad revenue last year — said that they were trying to work through these issues.

"We deeply respect any brand's decision and remain focused on the important work of removing hate speech and providing critical voting information," Carolyn Everson — the Vice President of Global Business at Facebook — said in a statement, per Ad Age. "Our conversations with marketers and civil rights organizations are about how, together, we can be a force for good."

Read Patagonia's entire tweet thread about the issue, below.

For too long, Facebook has failed to take sufficient steps to stop the spread of hateful lies and dangerous propaganda on its platform.

— Patagonia (@patagonia) June 21, 2020

As companies across the country work hard to ensure that Americans have access to free and fair elections this fall, we can’t stand by and contribute resources to companies that contribute to the problem.

— Patagonia (@patagonia) June 21, 2020

We stand with #StopHateforProfit in saying Facebook’s ‘profits will never be worth promoting hate, bigotry, racism, antisemitism, and violence. - Cory Bayers, Head of Marketing, Patagonia

— Patagonia (@patagonia) June 21, 2020

Photo via Getty