X (formerly Twitter) has dismissed Unilever from its ongoing lawsuit against advertisers which accuses several brands of conducting an “illegal boycott” of its business.
Per a court filing, X has dropped Unilever’s name from legal proceedings initiated in August. The document states X will still pursue those named in the original suit, which included ad trade body World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), and its now disbanded subsidiary the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), along with brands CVS, Mars, and energy firm Ørsted.
Dove and Hellmann’s owner Unilever confirmed to ADWEEK that an agreement had been made, with a spokesperson adding that X had “committed to meeting our responsibility standards to ensure the safety and performance of our brands on the platform.” The CPG declined to comment further on the terms of the agreement.
ADWEEK has contacted Mars, CVS, Mars, and Ørsted for comment. At the time of writing, they had not replied. The WFA declined to comment story due to legal reasons.
The Elon Musk-owned platform stated Friday it had settled with Unilever to “continue [its] partnership on the platform. Today’s news is the first part of the ecosystem-wide solution and we look forward to more resolution across the industry,” hinting that the reconciliation was part of a bigger conversation with advertisers.
X’s settlement with Unilever follows the appointment of former Hyundai marketer Angela Zepeda as chief marketing officer (CMO) in September. She is the first to take on the role since Musk’s $44 billion 2022 takeover.
X’s legal war with advertisers
Since Musk took ownership, several household brands, including Unilever, Dinsey, and Apple have been reducing, pausing, or entirely halting advertising on the platform, due to a rise in hate speech and disinformation.
Musk’s free speech agenda has also clashed with brands’ desire to distance themselves from problematic content. Meanwhile, his posts—which have ranged from alleged endorsements of antisemitic conspiracy theories to describing DEI as “another word for racism”—have also given buyers jitters.
In August, this battle came to a head when X CEO Linda Yaccarino published a video announcing X was taking legal against GARM and its members for allegedly organizing “to collectively withhold billions of dollars in advertising from Twitter” following concerns the platform had deviated from brand safety standards after Musk’s acquisition in late 2022.
A Message to X Users pic.twitter.com/6bZOYPhWVa
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) August 6, 2024
GARM, a cross-industry brand safety initiative established in 2019, folded as a result of the legal action.
The WFA will contest the allegations against GARM members, and believes the outcome of the case will “demonstrate [its] full adherence to competition rules in all our activities.”
In June, Unilever’s chief marketing and growth officer, Esi Eggleston Bracey, was asked during a media roundtable attended by ADWEEK whether Musk’s personal takes made her think differently about X as a platform.
“We make our decisions based on where people who love our brand, or people that could love our brands, are,” she said at the time. “We start first where people are, then we look at the return on the dollars, pounds, and euros we invest. That’s our priority focus.”