Facebook still hasn’t taken down the “Pedophiles are people too” page on its site, but the pressure is building.
Yesterday, Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro called for a boycott of the social network after reading my columns about Facebook’s refusal to remove the page on the grounds that it is merely “controversial humour.”
“I’m not laughing, and I don’t think Facebook will be either after its users, shareholders and advertisers boycott the site,” Molinaro said in a statement .
And I’m still calling the company’s advertisers to make them aware of the fact that Facebook thinks raping children is something to joke about. I called three more advertisers yesterday, just like I promised, in my campaign to get the company to blink.
I’m wondering how many advertisers will have to pull out before investors get nervous and start taking it out on Facebook’s already-decimated shares?
In yesterday’s paper, I reported that the Texas Tourism Board and Silversea cruises pulled their advertising off Facebook after the Post made them aware of what Facebook was allowing on its site.
The third company I called on Thursday was State Farm Insurance, which hasn’t gotten back to me yet. The company is, however, reportedly telling people it took its ads off the pedophile page.
But that’s not the point: If State Farm still has ads on Facebook, then it is backing that company’s refusal to take down the pedophile site.
It’s hard to imagine that a company that insures families would let Facebook razzle dazzle them like that.
And remember, many of these companies use advertising agencies. So word of Facebook’s pedophile page will spread pretty quickly through the ad community.
Friday’s calls were to:
* Kissimmee, Fla.
* TD Bank chief Ed Clark. The matter is being handled by Stephen Knight in the company’s p.r. department at (416) 982-2138.
* Empire State Bank. I spoke with CEO Anthony Costa at (845) 561-0003. Costa was so horrified he could hardly speak.
I think I’m being fair in saying that none of these advertisers saw “Pedophiles are people too” as even mildly humorous. But we’ll wait to see what actions, if any, they take.