Following Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, General Motors (GM) is suspending paid advertising on Twitter.
GM, a rival of Musk’s Tesla, told CNBC that it was “pausing” paid advertising on Twitter, as it evaluates the platform’s new direction under the new ownership. However, it will continue interacting with customers on the platform.
“We are engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership. As is normal course of business with a significant change in a media platform, we have temporarily paused our paid advertising. Our customer care interactions on Twitter will continue,” GM said.
Ford Motor is also not paying for ads on Twitter and had not been doing so for some time even before Musk’s takeover. Like GM, Ford said, “We will continue to evaluate the direction of the platform under the new ownership.”
Electronic Vehicle (EV) startup Fisker owner Henrik Fisker deleted his Twitter account months ago when Twitter accepted Musk’s bid to take over. Like most automobile manufacturers, Fisker uses Twitter for marketing and customer engagement.
Electric truck manufacturer Nikola said it will not change anything about its Twitter use.
When he made his bid, Musk said he is a “free speech absolutist.” He also said that he would restore former President Donald Trump’s account.
However, on Friday, he said that he cannot allow Twitter to become a “free-for-all hellscape” and added that no accounts will be reinstated before he forms a “content moderation council.”
Tesla does not use traditional advertising. Instead, it uses social media influencers and rewards members of Tesla owners’ clubs.
In an annual report from 2021, Tesla said: “Historically, we have been able to generate significant media coverage of our company and our products, and we believe we will continue to do so. Such media coverage and word of mouth are the current primary drivers of our sales leads and have helped us achieve sales without traditional advertising and at relatively low marketing costs.”
