No company has had more famous slogans over the years than Coke. In 1986, Coke ads told you to Catch the Wave. In 2020, the company itself caught the wave of advertisers temporarily halting their ad spending on Facebook; and the undertow left the company’s usually bubbly stock flat. Coca-Cola joins Facebook boycott with a pause on all social media advertising starting July 1st. For fans of reality and stemming online hate, this is reminiscent of Coke’s 1929 slogan, The Pause that Refreshes. How much difference will these corporate moves make? Possibly a lot. It’s about time Facebook stopped abdicating responsibility when it comes to hate, lies, false political ads, and fake news. Maybe they should try to live up to one of Coca-Cola’s other famous taglines: Facebook, It’s the Real Thing.

+ The company has already blinked. AP: “Facebook said Friday that it will flag all ‘newsworthy’ posts from politicians that break its rules, including those from President Donald Trump. Separately, Facebook’s stock dropped more than 8%, erasing roughly $50 billion from its market valuation.” (Separately?…)