Walmart stops advertising on X, adding to growing list of companies

Walmart no longer advertises on X, adding to the list of companies that have halted ads on the social media platform owned by Elon Musk.

A spokesperson for the retail giant on Friday confirmed to FOX Business in a statement, “We aren’t advertising on X as we’ve found other platforms to better reach our customers.” The news was first reported by Reuters.

A person familiar with the situation told FOX Business that Walmart’s decision to stop advertising on X was not made overnight, but was rather a gradual progression away from the platform over quite some time.

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When reached for comment, Joe Benarroch, head of operations at X, said Walmart has not advertised on X since October, so this is not a recent pause. He noted that Walmart still engages organically with its substantial following on the platform, even posting a survey for users on Friday.

Benarroch pointed to Walmart’s profile on the platform and said in a statement, “Walmart has a wonderful community of more than a million people on X, and with a half a billion people on X, every year the platform experiences 15 billion impressions about the holidays alone with more than 50 percent of X users doing most or all of their shopping online.”

X, formerly known as Twitter, has struggled to retain advertisers since Musk acquired the company in October 2022, and was hit with a fresh exodus in recent weeks over concerns about antisemitic content.

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Some major corporations, including Disney, IBM, Apple and Lionsgate, ceased advertising on X in mid-November, following a pair of controversies.

The first occurred when Musk commented that an X user had “said the actual truth” after that person alleged Jewish communities have spread “hatred against whites.” The tech billionaire has since traveled to Israel and met with its leaders, apologized, and reiterated that he condemns antisemitism.

The ad halt by companies also followed Media Matters for America reporting X ads for certain firms and antisemitic content had shown up adjacent to each other. X has since lodged a defamation complaint against the outlet over the report that it claimed left a “false impression that these pairings are anything but what they actually are: manufactured, inorganic and extraordinarily rare.”

Then, during a Wednesday afternoon appearance at the New York Times DealBook Summit, Musk lashed out at advertisers fleeing the platform, telling them, “Go f— yourself.”

X CEO Linda Yaccarino seemingly tried to do some cleanup following Musk’s remarks, posting on the platform, “Today @elonmusk gave a wide ranging and candid interview at @dealbook 2023. He also offered an apology, an explanation and an explicit point of view about our position.”

“X is enabling an information independence that’s uncomfortable for some people. We’re a platform that allows people to make their own decisions,” she added.

FOX Business’ Aislinn Murphy and Reuters contributed to this report.