PETA says it has decided not to buy ads from Facebook and Google, citing “misleading and deceptive” ads and misleading information.
PETA has long criticized both companies for their ads’ placement and for their alleged practices that it says are designed to help promote animal products.
We have decided not be a part of the ad business, and instead focus on our mission to fight against animal cruelty.
PFA’s campaign is a direct response to Facebook’s ad campaign, which included the phrase “Don’t buy their stuff,” and Google’s ad placement, which also included the slogan “don’t buy from us.”
We want you to know we’re not buying your stuff, but we do feel compelled to say it, said PETA CEO Doug O’Connell in a statement.
“This is a campaign to say to all the advertisers we’ve spoken to, ‘We know you’re spending money to reach people who don’t know what they’re buying.
Stop it.'”
PETA, which has a large following on social media, has previously criticized Facebook for its ads and its “vicious” placement of animal products in their ads.
In September, the organization called for a boycott of Facebook following the ad campaign that it said misrepresented the reality of animal testing and how animals are treated in labs.
Facebook has not yet responded to PETA’s decision.
“Facebook’s ad sales tactics are not the kind of ad campaigns that are meant to be neutral and objective,” PETA Executive Vice President Dan Gardner said in a press release.
“Facebook’s ads have a direct relationship with their users, and we feel compelled in this case to say that they’re a part-and-parcel of an ad business.
This is a clear attempt to shift the conversation away from our mission of ending animal cruelty and toward selling products.”
Google and Facebook have long faced scrutiny over their placement of ads in their own platforms.
In November, Facebook announced that it would ban ads from companies that don’t use the company’s “sponsored” tag, which allows brands to promote products without being explicitly labeled as such.
PTA has been in the spotlight for the past year over its campaign to fight the spread of BSE, a parasitic disease, which was discovered in sheep.
P.T. Barnum’s Circus was the first circus in the United States to officially use the “Sponsored” tag and was one of the first animal shelters to have its logo and name permanently incorporated into the logo of the animal shelter.
PRA has been a leading advocate for the animal protection movement and is one of its key allies.