A top marketing executive at consumer products giant Colgate-Palmolive is reportedly wary of Elon Musk’s upcoming appearance at an promoting conference as a result of the Twitter boss’ “harmful and sometimes racist rhetoric.”
Musk, the Tesla mogul who acquired Twitter for $44 billion last fall with the aim of allowing nearly unfettered speech on the social media platform, is scheduled to talk on stage on the digital marketing group MMA Global’s Possible conference in Miami Beach on April 18.
Diana Haussling, Colgate-Palmolive’s vp and general manager of consumer experience and growth, wrote an email to fellow MMA Global board members.
In the e-mail, the contents of which was first reported by Semafor, Haussling, who’s black, wrote that she was “each excited for the success of the conference while also mindful of the harmful and sometimes racist rhetoric of Elon Musk.”
“While I’m an enormous supporter of free speech and enterprise we will not ignore the impact of such hate speech,” Haussling wrote. “I especially can’t ignore it as a black woman.”
The Post has sought comment from Haussling.
Tariq Hassan, McDonald’s chief marketing and customer experience officer, also chimed in on the identical email thread, based on Semafor.
Elon Musk’s appearance at an upcoming promoting conference is prompting concern, based on a report.Getty Images
“For a lot of communities, his willingness to leverage success and private financial resources to further an agenda under the guise of freedom of speech is perpetuating racism resulting [in] direct threats to their communities and a possible for brand safety compromise we must always all be concerned about,” Hassan wrote in the e-mail.
“Further, all of us who lead our brand’s investments across platforms were required to navigate a situation post-acquisition that objectively can only be characterised as starting from chaos to moments of irresponsibility.”
The Post has sought comment from Hassan.
Diana Haussling, Colgate-Palmolive’s vp and general manager of consumer experience and growth, is reportedly delay by Musk’s “racist rhetoric.”
Despite Hassan’s reported misgivings about Musk, a source with knowledge of the situation told The Post that Hassan is one in every of several top ad executives who will meet with the controversial “Chief Twit” one on one on the sidelines of the conference to debate business.
One other marketing executive, Kristi Argyilan, a senior vp of retail media at grocery chain Albertsons, wrote in the e-mail chain that she was “concerned concerning the reputational risk for the MMA” while being “much more concerned concerning the harm or hurt this might cause anyone who is a component of our community.”
“By giving Elon Musk a stage, we now have signed as much as broker a crucial discussion that should be managed with the utmost of care and respect for those most harmed by his actions and inactions,” she wrote.
The Post has sought comment from Argyilan.
Haussling might be in attendance on the conference in Miami Beach where Musk will appear.
In the e-mail thread, not one of the executives cited any specific comment, remark, or tweet by Musk that will be construed as racist.
Through the conference, which is predicted to be attended by around 700 ad executives, Musk will take questions from NBCUniversal ad executive Linda Yaccarino.
The sit-down is being billed as an “intimate conversation” during which the 2 will discuss “Twitter 2.0 and what the longer term holds for marketers on the platform and the role Twitter plays in cultural conversations.”
The Post has sought comment from Twitter, NBCUniversal, and MMA Global.
A source with knowledge of the situation told The Post that the e-mail thread cited by Semafor reflected initial reactions to Musk’s appearance, which was first announced on March 25.
Kristi Argyilan, a senior vp of retail media at grocery chain Albertsons, reportedly said that Musk “harmed” people along with his “actions and inactions.”
Since then, nevertheless, “the conversation has progressed,” based on the source, who added that there have been no specific demands to drop Musk from the conference.
The source told The Post that there was also never any threat by executives to boycott the event in protest of Musk’s appearance.
Musk’s in-your-face management style and his revamping of Twitter’s content moderation policies have prompted advertisers to flee his platform.
Fourteen of the highest 30 advertisers on Twitter stopped all promoting on the platform after Musk took charge on October 27, based on estimates by research firm Pathmatics, which were cited by Reuters.
Elon Musk’s company has seen advertisers flee because the mogul acquired the social media platform last fall.REUTERS
4 advertisers reduced spending between 92% and 98.7% from the week before Musk’s acquisition through the top of the yr.
Overall, promoting spending by the highest 30 corporations fell by 42% to an estimated $53.8 million for November and December combined, based on Pathmatics, despite a rise in spending by six of them.
Technology-focused publication The Information, citing details shared by a top Twitter ad executive at a staff meeting earlier this yr, reported that Twitter’s fourth quarter revenue fell about 35% yr over yr as a result of a slump in promoting.
