X Reaches Settlement With Unilever After ‘Declaring War’ Over Ad Boycott

After declaring “war” on advertisers who boycotted X over the offensive material hosted on the site, the Elon Musk-owned company has reached a deal with one of those advertisers, consumer goods giant Unilever, which will start partnering with X again. 

“X is pleased to have reached an agreement with Unilever and to continue our partnership with them on the platform. Today’s news is the first part of the ecosystem-wide solution and we look forward to more resolution across the industry,” X tweeted on Friday.

In August, X sued the World Federation of Advertisers and four of its members—Unilever, the candy conglomerate Mars, CVS Health, and the wind-energy firm Ørsted—accusing them of violating US antitrust laws by taking their advertising business elsewhere.

“We tried being nice for 2 years and got nothing but empty words,” Musk tweeted at the time. “Now, it is war.”

The lawsuit, filed in a Texas federal court, claimed that Unilever and others had illegally colluded with other corporate advertisers when they boycotted X over its alleged failure to meet brand safety standards.

X’s initial 44-page complaint (PDF) accused the advertising federation’s Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM)—which X had rejoined in early July—of leading a boycott of X since shortly after Musk took over Twitter. In August, GARM shut down, citing lack of funds.

The complaint claimed that the advertisers had refused to come back to the platform, even after X started offering “brand safety” options that allowed them to choose where their ads would appear. But that was perhaps not persuasive for some brands given that Musk told boycotting advertisers to “go fuck yourself” less than a year ago.

The terms of the Unilever settlement were not disclosed. X tells Reuters that it’s continuing to pursue its “antitrust claims against the other defendants.”

The lawsuit has drawn criticism from many quarters over its fairness. In August, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a Washington think tank, said companies “have the right to make independent decisions about where to allocate their advertising budgets based on a variety of factors, including brand safety and alignment with their values.”

X’s lawsuit “undermines the basic principle of free market competition and the autonomy of businesses to manage their reputations,” said ITIF VP Daniel Castro.

Research by market research firm Kantar found that 26% of marketers are planning to reduce their ad spend on X in 2025, with a mere 4% believing X offers brand safety.

About Will McCurdy

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I’m a reporter covering weekend news. Before joining PCMag in 2024, I picked up bylines in BBC News, The Guardian, The Times of London, The Daily Beast, Vice, Slate, Fast Company, The Evening Standard, The i, TechRadar, and Decrypt Media.

I’ve been a PC gamer since you had to install games from multiple CD-ROMs by hand. As a reporter, I’m passionate about the intersection of tech and human lives. I’ve covered everything from crypto scandals to the art world, as well as conspiracy theories, UK politics, and Russia and foreign affairs.

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