Apple resumes advertising on X after year-long boycott
What's the story
After a break of over a year, Apple has resumed its advertising on social media platform, X.
The tech giant had stopped its promotional activities in November 2023 after controversial comments from X owner Elon Musk.
MacRumors first reported the development after spotting an ad from the @Apple account on X promoting Safari's privacy features.
Ad campaigns
Apple's advertising strategy on X
Along with the Safari privacy ad, the @AppleTV account has also been running ads for the Apple TV+ show Severance.
This is a major shift in Apple's advertising strategy on X.
The tech giant is one of the many major brands including Disney, Coca-Cola, Sony, IBM, and Comcast, that have previously suspended their advertising activities on this platform at least once over various concerns.
Platform changes
X's content moderation policy under Musk's ownership
Ever since Musk acquired Twitter in 2022 and rebranded it to X in 2023, the platform has taken a more relaxed stance on content moderation.
This has led to extremist views proliferating on the platform.
Despite the concerns, a few brands including Disney have tentatively returned to advertising on X.
Executive presence
Apple executives maintain presence on X
Despite the controversy, several senior Apple executives, including CEO Tim Cook and marketing head Greg Joswiak, have continued to stay active on X.
However, Phil Schiller, Apple's former marketing chief, decided to leave X and moved to other platforms such as Mastodon and Bluesky.
This shows the differing reactions in the tech industry to X's content moderation policies under Musk's ownership.