Report: Half of Twitter’s top advertisers have pulled their sponsorship since Elon Musk took over

According to a recent report from Media Matters, since Elon Musk took the reigns of Twitter on October 28th, 50% of advertisers have removed their sponsorship from the platform.

The report found that the 50 companies who pulled out spent a reported $750 million on ads in 2022 and $2 billion since 2020.

Media matters cited “direct outreach, controversies, and warnings from media buyers” as reasons behind the company’s decisions.

While some companies have issued statements about their decision, others have “quietly quit.” Some of the companies who quietly pulled their ads from Twitter include AT&T, Coca-Cola, Chanel and American Express.

Ford paused their advertising immediately and said they would keep an eye on Twitter’s progress before re-evaluating their decision.

Chevrolet, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc, Jeep, Kyndryl, Merck & Co. and Novartis AG also issue statements announcing that they would pull their sponsorships.

Early in November, Musk condemned the departure of advertisers.

“Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists. Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America,” Musk said.

On November 11, Group M, who are the world’s biggest ad buyer, branded Twitter as “high-risk” for advertisers and cautioned its clients against buying promotions on the platform.

Author Stephen King said on Tuesday that “Pretty soon the only advertiser left on Twitter will be My Pillow,” who were founded by Mike Lindell.