Pukka Herbs is among thousands of brands globally which have joined together to show support for the Stop Hate for Profit campaign by pausing advertising on Facebook-owned platforms, saying: “As a B Corp, we have a responsibility to be a force for good in the world and right now, if enough companies and people come together, social media could become a fairer, kinder place.”
The organic herbal tea and supplements brand is actively removing advertising from both Facebook and Instagram for the month of July – and ‘perhaps longer’ – in protest against hate speech and racism on social media. Between the platforms, the brand has a following of over 900,000 people; without advertising, by the end of July the company claims it will have ‘missed out on a combined reach of over 11 million’ potential customers.
Through this ad pause, Stop Hate for Profit aims to ‘harness the collective power of community organizations in a grassroots effort to call upon the conscience of Facebook’s leadership and demand they fix the platform’s policies that empower hate groups, divisiveness and extremism’. In a statement on its website, the campaign says Facebook ‘allowed incitement to violence against protesters fighting for racial justice in America in the wake of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks and so many others’.
If enough companies and people come together, social media could become a fairer, kinder place
Having withdrawn its investment, Pukka is now using its time and resources to ‘amplify’ the message and ‘rally additional support for Stop Hate for Profit from the rest of the B Corp community, who also rely on Facebook and Instagram as an acquisition tool’.
On the brand’s decision to ‘hit pause on hate’, Pukka’s marketing director Fox says: “We are proud to support the Stop Hate for Profit campaign. As a B Corp, we believe we have a responsibility to use our influence to drive positive change. We are talking to other B Corps too, to build our collective voice to inspire the necessary change we hope will come. And we hope other businesses outside of the B Corp community are inspired to put purpose before profit and join this campaign.”
