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MySpace Shunned by Advertising Panel

Written on: March 21st 2006
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A panel of six executives from major advertisers and ad agencies cast stigmatic disapproval on the popular social networking site MySpace when they met Monday for the “Revolution in Television” discussion hosted by the Advertising Research Foundation in New York. The representatives all stated that they refrain from advertising on the site, and specifically pointed to MySpace’s range of objectionable user-generated content, as well as its recent storm of negative publicity regarding the activity of pedophiles using the site as a tool for sexual predation.
The “Revolution in Television” panelists were David Cohen, executive VP for Universal McCann Interactive; Dawn Hudson, president and CEO of Pepsi-Cola North America; Giovanni Fabris, VP and international media director of McDonald’s; Randy Falco, president and COO, NBC Universal Television Group; Paul Alexander, Campbell’s Soup Company VP of global advertising; and Tony Pace, Subway Franchise Association SVP and CMO.

Dawn Hudson said her company was “interested” in sites like MySpace that feature user-generated content, but that they are “being cautious because there’s a blurring between advertising and content, and the content does rub off on your brand.”

MySpace, which is owned by News Corp. and operated by Intermix Media, currently hosts over 60 million members, with new members still steadily streaming in at over 4 million a month. The site alone accounts for 12.5 percent of all online display ads.

Reader Comments.

Well, Myspace.com is like a predator’s catalog. It’s to be expected. I don’t blame them.

Posted by Jim Mazer | 12:52 pm on March 21, 2006.

Hah, obviously! MySpace has proven why agencies have no desire to be on the site. There is a reason not a single study on the users has been done because the users are kids who don’t buy anything, and frankly are no different than porn users.