Unilever suspends advertising in South Africa
Following reports of unrest and widespread looting in South Africa, FMCG giant, Unilever has announced the suspension of its advertising campaigns in the country.
“We can confirm that we have paused all traditional and digital advertising until further notice,” a Unilever Spokesperson told Fin24.
Although Unilever did not state the reason for its decision to suspend all ad campaigns, hundreds of stores that sell Unilever products have been looted in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal after riots erupted over the weekend.
According to South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa the deadly violence and looting that have shaken the country over the past week were planned.
Ramaphosa said: “It is quite clear that all these incidents of unrest and looting were instigated, there were people who planned it and coordinated it. We are going after them, we have identified a good number of them and, we will not allow anarchy and mayhem to just unfold in our country.”
The protests which broke out on the 9th July have resulted in the looting and destruction of shopping malls and warehouses, leaving at least 117 dead, some shot and others wounded in looting stampedes.
Unilever owns brands like Surf, Joko, Lipton, Vaseline, Omo, Handy Andy, Knorr, Robertson’s Spices and Ola ice cream. It opened its first South African factory in 1911, and currently operates six production facilities in Durban and Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal, as well as Boksburg and Midrand in Gauteng.
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