Facebook messes up with BNP page skyscraper ads
Thursday, 2 August 2007
Vodafone, the world’s largest mobile phone company, has pulled all its “skyscraper” adverts from Facebook today because one of them was positioned on the British National Party’s page.
Vodafone’s official line is that it doesn’t want to be associated with “any” political party, although something tells me the BNP’s “send ‘em back where they come from and string ‘em up while you’re at it” manifesto may have been perceived as at odds with brand values.
It’s quite interesting to think that the BNP has a Facebook page. Imagine logging in and thinking, yes, I want to be friends with them.
The BNP suggests Vodafone’s decision may be a touch rash, saying:
There is no reason at all why anyone should avoid the BNP. There’s nothing wrong with the BNP.
Unfortunately the media have created a bogeyman and really the fault lies with the media, who for some reason have vilified the BNP, and it has scared these people off.
This bloke might just have scared a few people off as well, to be fair.
Newspapers figured out some time ago that it pays to be careful about the positioning of adverts in relation to news stories, although the occasional cock-up can still occur. Websites, especially social networking sites, are learning about it the hard way.
