The Facebook Cop-out: “Ad Philosophy”

The group known as “Just Say Now” has been banned from promoting their pro-marijuana advertisement on Facebook, even though the ad was initially approved and shown 38 million times on the social networking site.

Just Say Now is a coalition dedicated to the legalization of marijuana, claiming the change would lower crime near the borders and create around $40 billion in revenue each year. No matter how you feel regarding the subject of marijuana legalization, we can all agree that Just Say Now is making a political statement and should be guarded by free speech.

The organization decided to approach its largest age demographic, Facebook users, and promote the cause. Why not? Facebook is the center of all activity online these days, specifically for those under 30. That group is also the largest supporting demographic for legalizing the drug.

But after Just Say Now spent around $5,000 and brought in 6,000 supporters, Facebook suddenly deemed the advertisement prohibited and stopped running it.

According to the networking giant, the image of a marijuana leaf is closely related to tobacco and smoking products, which are prohibited from Facebook advertising, and is therefore inappropriate.

Facebook provides specific guidelines for advertising. They are pretty straight-forward when outlining the subject matter prohibited by the site. However, the guidelines also include this all-encompassing, compact, yet powerful little sentence:

“Facebook reserves the right to reject or remove advertising that we deem contrary to our ad philosophy.”

I would like to see a copy of this “Ad Philosophy;” I can’t find one on Facebook.com. Is there a subject in the universe that could avoid that cop-out, “our ad philosophy?” I can’t think of one, so it looks as if Facebook has conveniently set itself in a position to reject any ad, no matter what the subject matter, by skewing the perception of that subject to oppose the Facebook “ad philosophy.”

For example, Facebook has decided that Just Say Now’s promotion of marijuana legalization is actually designed to sell tobacco products. Really? REALLY?

So why did Facebook allow the ad to show 38 million times before it was disapproved? Maybe because Facebook requires you to follow their “Privacy Policy,” their “Statement of Rights and Responsibilities,” and their “Facebook Platform Guidelines,” all noted within the “Facebook Advertising Guidelines,” in order to post a simple ad. With so many potential issues to choose from, how could your ad get approved unless it’s for a flower shop or bowling alley? Wait, scratch that; Facebook likely considers an ad for a bowling alley a promotion for tobacco products.

Facebook censorship and privacy is an ongoing topic, but the censorship of Facebook advertisements should receive more attention from both the public and from Facebook itself. At this point, only those employed at Facebook likely understand the full process and philosophy behind its advertising.

From personal experience, I can say that Facebook will approve an advertisement one day, let it run for a period of time, then suddenly disapprove it a few days later. Maybe even weeks later. Their process of ad approval needs to improve, gain more consistency, and help clarify the Facebook “Ad Philosophy,” if a real one even exists.

If this Facebook advertisement approval process doesn’t change, there is no saying what Facebook will consider part of its “Ad Philosophy” in the future.

If you would like to support Just Say Now and the legalization of marijuana, visit http://www.Justsaynow.com to sign the petition!