Elon Musk’s X which was subjected to an “advertising boycott” for several years, has now seen major advertisers return to the platform as its owner has established a powerful relationship with the President of the US.
In December, X’s lawyer is reported to have spoken to his counterpart from advertising giant Interpublic Group, with the underlying theme of the conversation being, ‘Get your clients to spend more on Elon Musk’s social-media platform, or else,’ reported Wall Street Journal.
X CEO Linda Yaccarino has made comments that appear to be similar warnings in conversations with Interpublic executives.
The leadership team at Interpublic which owns agencies such as McCann World group, Weber Shandwick, FCB and ad-buying firm Mediabrands, and has a client roster including L’Oréal, Johnson & Johnson and Geico, has interpreted the latest messaging from X as alluding to the fact that not paying more advertising dollars to X could result in issues cropping up with regards to it’s a$20 billion merger with Omnicom Group.
Interpublic has recently signed a new annual deal with X for potential client spending.
“We do not make spending commitments on behalf of clients to any partner or platform, and decision-making authority always rests with the client,” said an Interpublic spokesman.
Interpublic and Omnicom work are believed to have previously worked with an ad trade group that might potentially violated antitrust laws and withheld ad spending from social-media platforms and conservative media outlets.
Omnicom and Interpublic Group were founding members of the left-leaning World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and its now-defunct Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) initiative. GARM reportedly claimed that right-leaning platforms spread “so-called harmful content” and deprived them of advertising revenue by badmouthing them to more than 40 major companies including Adidas, American Express, Bayer, BP, Carhartt, Chanel CVS and General Motors.
X has filed antitrust lawsuits last year against World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and some major brands alleging that they coordinated an illegal boycott of X. Earlier this month, it adding around a dozen more advertisers to that lawsuit.
The legal threats around advertisers boycotting the social media platform extended to the CES in January this year.
Yaccarino with executives from several large ad companies including Omnicom Group and Dentsu during the conference. During a meeting with WPP executives, Yaccarino pushed them to sign an annual upfront deal. WPP is still negotiating with X. Publicis Groupe, the world’s largest ad company by net revenue, is in the process of signing a nonbinding annual ad pact.
