The $26 billion cereal company Kellogg is the latest business to sever ties with right-wing website Breitbart, over concern that its ads were appearing alongside racist and anti-Semitic content.
In pulling its ads, Kellogg, the maker of Corn Flakes, Keebler cookies, and Nutri-Grain granola bars, follows in the footsteps of brands including Warby Parker, Allstate, Nest, SoFi, Modcloth, and EarthLink. In some cases, their advertising appeared on the site via third-party ad networks. Several of the brands pulled their ads after feeling public heat.
A Twitter account called Sleeping Giants is being used to track companies that advertise on the site and to publicly call them out for it. The stated goal of the account is to “stop racist websites” by starving them of advertising dollars. Breitbart’s profile was raised significantly by US president-elect Donald Trump’s appointment of Stephen Bannon, a founding member of the board of Breitbart News, as his chief White House strategist.
Some of Breitbart’s advertisers are standing firm. Nissan, the Japanese carmaker, told Digiday it was not changing its ad mix, and that its ads are “not intended to be a political commentary.”