TechCrunch: Facebook Advertising Cancelations

First Direct, Vodafone, Virgin Media, the AA, Halifax and the Prudential withdrew their Facebook advertising after it was disclosed that their advertisements were being displayed on the Facebook page of the British National Party. The ads of the six companies were being rotated through the BNP’s page along with other advertising. Facebook is said to be unable to block campaigns on specific Facebook pages.

It seems a little strange in 2007 that advertisers would have been naive enough to believe that a run of site style advertising campaign on a site as large as Facebook would not have resulted in advertisements appearing next to dubious content to start with. As The Register points out, Vodafone’s UK rival Orange currently have their ads appearing on the Facebook page of The Aryan Satan Worshipers. Of course, no sane person would draw the conclusion that Orange is indeed in favor of Aryan Satan Worshiping, this is how run of site advertising works.

The Register also points out that the two Facebook groups representing the BNP have clocked up just 150 and 31 members respectively. By comparison, the non-aligned group "A Chief Export of Chuck Norris Is Pain" has 12,550 members.