Christchurch mosque shootings: Westpac, TSB pull ads from social media sites

Westpac and TSB confirmed to the Herald today that they have also pulled their advertising from Facebook and Google.

This adds to a growing number of major Kiwi businesses, who have pulled their spend from the major digital sites.

A Westpac spokesperson said the company had suspended all its advertising on "social media networks until further notice".

"We will be engaging with social media companies about the publishing of harmful content," the spokesperson said.

This view was mirrored by TSB, whose spokesperson said: "TSB is disappointed in the role social media played in Friday's tragedy and thinks it's inappropriate to continue to support this channel."

Other banks to have also pulled ads include ASB, ANZ, Kiwibank and BNZ.

The banks approached by the Herald would not provide additional commentary at this stage, with some spokespeople referring the Herald to the Association of New Zealand Advertisers (ANZA) for further comment.

Yesterday, chief executive Lindsay Mouat today told the Herald that New Zealand companies need to consider where they want their advertising money spent.

He said that in the aftermath of the Christchurch massacres, he had "a real outpouring of concern" from senior marketers asking what they could do to help change this.

Mouat said he believed New Zealand's businesses had a role to play in encouraging change.

"Perhaps when the dollars start to go, you'll get a response," he said.

The Herald understands that a number of senior marketers have been in discussions behind the scenes to take a stand on the issue in the aftermath of the Christchurch massacre. It's understood that these discussions were ongoing today.

While some companies have also independently taken steps to pull their ads, the combined effort of all the companies will have an impact on the major social media providers.

Facebook and Google make hundreds of millions of dollars from digital advertising in New Zealand every year.

Banks, in particular, are some of the biggest spenders on advertising in New Zealand.

In addition to major companies, the Herald has also been approached by several smaller Kiwi businesses who have pulled their ads.

In an email sent to the newsdesk yesterday the Kane Oldham, chief financial officer at Motor Finance, told the Herald that his team had made the decision 12 months ago to pull advertising from Facebook.

He said the decision had been made over privacy concerns and also because he did not see the companies as good corporate citizens in that they had a history of offshoring their revenue.

Another small business owner, Tiger Aspell, who recently launched the peer-to-peer renting site Ask Harry, said that he and his wife had made the decision not to support Facebook in the aftermath of the event.

"As a Kiwi, I will no longer be using these platforms because I respect the fallen much more than I desire success," he said.

He went on to applaud the actions of all the companies who have so far taken steps to suspend their advertising.

"I have great admiration for the executive decisions from these companies to pull their advertising because the consequences (from a financial standpoint) could be dear. But compassion, respect and honour are things money cannot buy."