3 Companies Halt Discriminatory Policies; Getting Advertisers to Ditch Facebook: Friday's First Things First

Welcome to First Things First, Adweek’s daily resource for marketers. We’ll be publishing the content to First Things First on Adweek.com each morning (like this post), but if you prefer that it come straight to your inbox, you can sign up for the email here. 3 Companies Reevaluating Discriminatory Policies While many companies are being proactive with initiatives supporting the Black community, others are addressing long-standing problematic policies. In a move that has left some people criticizing that this was ever made a policy in the first place, Walmart ended its practice of locking up beauty products for Black consumers in some stores. In some cases, these products were locked in glass cases alongside products targeted at consumers of other races, which were not locked up. After historically ignoring pressure to restrict the sale of Rekognition, its facial recognition technology, to police departments, Amazon is finally implementing a one-year moratorium on the practice. Objections by the ACLU and other organizations have pointed to the fact that the technology is less accurate with people of color, who are also disproportionately harmed by police practices. Although Google claims that it's not reacting to the ongoing protests, Google Ads is updating its policies to prevent marketers from targeting customers based on age, gender, marital or parental status, or ZIP code when promoting credit, employment and housing services. Google Ads already prohibits such campaigns based on ethnicity, race, religion and sexual orientation. Adweek Pro | Inside the Longshot Campaign to Get Advertisers to Ditch Facebook In the wake of both internal and external criticism over Mark Zuckerberg's refusal to take action against problematic political ads and posts (especially one of Trump's posts threatening protesters), a coalition of advertising and tech workers has emerged to take action. The group, Detox Facebook, aims to pressure advertisers to stop advertising on Facebook and Instagram until the company addresses hate speech and untruthful political advertising on the platform. “I would just ask [advertisers] what kind of world they want to do business in,” said Matt Rivitz, co-founder of Sleeping Giants, which has led ad boycotts of conservative news outlets and is now eyeing Facebook. But it's not Facebook's first ad boycott rodeo: We spoke with founders of Detox Facebook, as well as others who have taken on the platform before, about objectives and strategies. Dive deeper with an Adweek Pro Subscription, your key to the inside scoop on the marketing and advertising trends and reporting that guide the world's top brands. BET’s ‘Dear Black People’ Spot Kicks Off $25 Million Social Justice Campaign Beginning on Juneteenth, Black Entertainment Television will launch a $25 million campaign addressing racial injustice called Content for Change. The initiative will include programming celebrating Black perspectives and storytelling, all focused on five areas: racial justice, economic empowerment, education, health and civic participation. Advertising for the campaign kicked off yesterday with a spot called "Dear Black People," a love letter to the Black community's joy, resilience and power. [kickout id="1"] The latest step: The campaign continues a year of nearly nonstop initiatives and funding for the network. Beauty retailer Sephora is the latest brand to take the "15 Percent Pledge," which was launched by fashion designer Aurora James, announcing that it will commit at least 15% of its shelf space to Black-owned brands. Opinion | How to Empower Your Employees as Agents of Change In a new Voice piece, Jenifer Berman, CMO of Insider Inc., explains how this moment in history underscores the importance and benefits of ensuring that employees have clear avenues to express themselves and drive positive change within companies. "Companies must actively seek out and address the concerns of their workers, especially for members of traditionally disenfranchised communities who previously have resisted speaking out," she writes. The power to drive disruption: Berman outlines three questions companies can ask improve communication and unlock employee potential. More of Today's Top News & Highlights Chris Cox Returns to Facebook in His Former Role as Chief Product Officer Tumblr Taps Vice Media’s Cavel Khan as Its New Chief Revenue Officer Pop TV President Brad Schwartz Leaves for Audible Sam’s Club Will Offer Curbside Pickup—With a Catch For Small Businesses, Looting Made an Already Difficult Situation Nearly Impossible Snapchat Puts Additional Emphasis on Advertising in New Features In Times of Crisis, Gen Z Urges ‘Be a Brand, Not Our Best Friend’ Want to Get Active But Stay Safely Distant? This Ad Says Tennis Is the Sport for You Tennis is great, says the U.S. Tennis Association in a new ad: It’s great cardio exercise, it’s open to all ages and demos and it requires little equipment. And maybe most important, it's social distancing friendly. [kickout id="2"] Quote of the Day: Carpe Diem [kickout id="3"] As one of the 11 Global Agency Leaders honored in our Creative 100, Thabang Skwambane of FCB Joburg and Hellocomputer says he grew up on a mine in the Namib Desert and has lived in Cape Town, London, New York and Johannesburg—places where he learned resilience and self-reliance. Meet all of the honorees in this category. 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