By Krystal Scanlon and Marty Swant. The story was originally published on Glossy’s sibling publication Digiday.
The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump starkly highlights the razor-thin line between profit and ethics that platforms are precariously tightrope-walking as the presidential race heats up.
In the chaotic aftermath of the incident at Trump’s campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, July 13, a chorus of opportunists rushed to cash in on the swirling hysteria, speculation, and conspiracy theories.
Political advertisers on Meta platforms have already begun using the shooting to sell assassination-related merchandise ranging from T-shirts and shot glasses to trading cards. Coffee mugs and tumblers show members of the Secret Service pulling the former president off stage along with the text “Legends Never Die.” T-shirts with the same image feature text like “Fight For America,” “Not Today,” and “I get shot and I get up again!”
All these examples were shown in Meta’s ads library, according to Digiday’s analysis of the publicly available record of all political ads bought on the platform. Many of the shooting-related ads were small media buys of less than $100, with Meta’s ad library showing each ad only having a few thousand impressions or less. However, they illustrate how even small right-wing e-commerce websites, political sites, and political affiliates are seeking to capitalize on the attack — and making Meta a little money in the process.
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