• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

2

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

3

Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster

1

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

2

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

3

Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
TechKind

KIND’s founder on joining the Facebook ad boycott: ‘It was not an easy decision’

By
Danielle Abril
Danielle Abril
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Danielle Abril
Danielle Abril
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 2, 2020, 10:00 AM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Our mission to help you navigate the new normal is fueled by subscribers. To enjoy unlimited access to our journalism, subscribe today.

The founder of KIND Snacks says his company’s boycott of advertising on Facebook won’t end until the social network does more to combat hate speech.

Daniel Lubetzky, founder and executive chairman of KIND, which makes fruit and energy bars, says he took a stand because of the growing ugliness on social media—even though joining the boycott complicated KIND’s marketing strategy.  The company had planned to spend nearly $2 million on Facebook ads during the month of July alone.

“It was not an easy decision, even though long-term it was very clear,” Lubetzky said.

In boycotting Facebook, KIND joined hundreds of companies, including Verizon, Microsoft, Unilever, and Hershey’s. Their goal is to put financial pressure on Facebook to do a better job of policing hate speech and eliminating racism on its service.

The campaign, called #StopHateForProfit, started after Facebook last month left untouched several inflammatory posts by President Trump, such as “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” referring to the Minneapolis protests. Under intense pressure, Facebook last week announced new policies to crack down on hateful comments from politicians, but Lubetzky says those steps aren’t enough.

In theory, the Facebook boycott is only during July. But some companies, including KIND, have indicated that they plan to walk away for longer.

Lubetzky, a board member for the Anti-Defamation League, one of several organizations that organized the boycott, spoke with Fortune about KIND’s decision. His comments have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity. 

Fortune: Why did KIND Snacks decide to pause ads now, versus previously? 

Daniel Lubetzky: It’s intimidating to be alone on these issues. When ADL, Colors of Change, and NAACP created the campaign, it allowed a lot of us to join the movement and not be a lonely voice. We’ve discussed within KIND for years stopping advertising with Facebook, but we just didn’t have the courage. In our case, this gave us the courage to join. 

Given your position on the ADL board, why wasn’t KIND one of the first companies to join the #StopHateForProfit campaign? (The company joined more than two weeks after organizers announced the planned boycott.)

I had a very sensitive role. As a board member of ADL, I support this work. And as founder of KIND, I support this work, but I’m not the only shareholder. I had to be careful not to abuse my role as a board member of ADL. I had to let the team make the decision. It moved very fast, but we first needed to get everyone on board. 

In a note to KIND employees, you said if Facebook doesn’t take “visible, measurable and assertive efforts” to change things, you would consider indefinitely suspending Facebook ads. What would count as visible, measurable, and assertive efforts? 

As humans, we rationalize our beliefs to make them consistent with our economic interests. I actually believe Mr. Zuckerberg believes that what he’s doing is right for society. But I think he believes that because it’s convenient for him to believe it. It allows Facebook to avoid the uncomfortable and costly role of realizing it’s a disseminator of bad content. One of the most senior executives at Facebook, a person I respect a lot, reached out to me for a phone call. I want to listen to them and engage. If there’s honest effort and real work, you’re going to see it. There’s low-hanging fruit like taking off things that are demonstrably false. 

Prior to the campaign, were plans already in place to cut spending on Facebook because of the coronavirus?

We were actually planning to double our monthly budget, and then I came in with, “Okay, guys, we need to sign up.” It was like, “Daniel, because of COVID, you wanted us to redeploy more money in ads. Now you’re telling us to stop?” We had a very ambitious plan for product launches in July. We had planned to rely on Facebook heavily, with a budget close to $2 million. We hope the message in July will be taken seriously and they’ll really change things. 

Will your ad boycott hurt your sales?

Only marginally. I’m not losing sleep over it. We’re going to deploy a lot of resources to other platforms. It’s primarily going to be TV and online video. There are many other platforms that need to get their act together, too, so we’re trying to look at platforms that are more responsible. 

Have you talked to or heard from other companies about boycotting ads?

Over the last several years, yes. It’s a dinner topic almost every week. I worry enormously about the impact of hate festering and being promulgated by social media platforms. I cannot think of a dinner conversation with friends, which includes CEOs and founders, at which this subject doesn’t come up. My father was a Holocaust survivor. He survived because of the kindness of strangers who rose up at the darkest of times to save his life. I’ve done so many efforts focused on empathy and building bridges with people. It’s a lifetime concern. 

Does KIND plan to keep its Facebook page and continue posting there? 

We haven’t formulated a policy on that. The official perspective is that as long as you’re not giving ad dollars, you can post organically. But it’s a question we want to ask ourselves, too. [As of July 1, KIND’s Facebook page was still available.]

About the Author
By Danielle Abril
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

How foodservice giant Sodexo is embracing AI and robotics to reshape the kitchen
NewslettersCIO Intelligence
How foodservice giant Sodexo is embracing AI and robotics to reshape the kitchen
By John KellJuly 1, 2026
2 hours ago
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei
AIAnthropic
Anthropic’s AI models are back online after a two-week government standoff—settling the company and administration into a fragile truce
By Tristan BoveJuly 1, 2026
2 hours ago
Nikesh Arora, chief executive officer at Palo Alto Networks
SuccessJobs
CEO of $248 billion cybersecurity company says workers are about to face a ‘Darwinian moment’ thanks to AI: Evolve or get cut
By Emma BurleighJuly 1, 2026
4 hours ago
Current price of Ethereum for July 1, 2026
Personal FinanceEthereum
Current price of Ethereum for July 1, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 1, 2026
6 hours ago
In this photo illustration, a Cisco logo is displayed on a smartphone with Artificial Intellingence (AI) symbols in the background.
AICFO Daily
Cisco is rolling out AI agents to every single one of its 90,000 employees
By Sheryl EstradaJuly 1, 2026
6 hours ago
senate
CommentaryCongress
One rare bipartisan AI bill is moving through Congress. Here’s why it deserves to pass
By Neil Björkman and Betsy BrewerJuly 1, 2026
8 hours ago

Most Popular

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
6 days ago
As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
Big Tech
As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 1, 2026
12 hours ago
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
Success
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
By Preston ForeJune 27, 2026
4 days ago
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
Success
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
By Sydney LakeJune 29, 2026
2 days ago
The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win
Newsletters
The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win
By Diane BradyJuly 1, 2026
10 hours ago
The U.S. Army is opening military bases to private billions — here's why that changes everything for the next 250 years
Commentary
The U.S. Army is opening military bases to private billions — here's why that changes everything for the next 250 years
By Marc AndersenJune 30, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.