Big advertisers like Kraft, Kellogg's, and Hertz are running ads on the 'fake news' site connected to Facebook's shady lobbying
- Advertisers like Pringles, Cheez-It, Oscar Mayer, and Hertz continue to run ads on NTK Network, the "in-house fake news shop" run by Definers Public Affairs, which was featured in the bombshell New York Times report about Facebook that shocked the industry Wednesday.
- Definers Public Affairs was hired by Facebook in the midst of its PR crisis in October 2017.
Big advertisers may have supported Facebook as it embarked on an aggressive lobbying campaign to combat its critics - and they probably don't even know it.
According to a bombshell New York Times report published Wednesday, Facebook hired the conservative lobbying firm Definers Public Affairs in the midst of its PR crisis in October 2017, which, among other tactics, ran a site called NTK Network as an "in-house fake news shop" as part of its operations. NTK Network has a verified Facebook page with more than 120,000 followers, where it publishes and promotes articles about its clients as well as their competitors. Facebook said it ended its relationship with the firm Wednesday.
But a day after the report, advertisers like Pringles, Cheez-It, Oscar Mayer, and Hertz, to name a few, continue to run ads on NTK Network, Business Insider has found. Kellogg's is the parent company of Pringles and Cheez-It while Kraft owns Oscar Mayer.
Business Insider scraped through the site, and found a number of ad tech companies, including Oath, Teads, and Taboola running ads on it. These companies provide automated systems that plug into hundreds of sites on the web, helping advertisers target their desired audiences easily. When we clicked on the "Ad Choices" button on the top of one of the ads, we were directed to a page which said that the ad "was served by Oath or one of Oath's advertising partners."
NTK, like many other sites on the web, seems to generate revenue by programmatic advertising, and this appears to be the latest example of brands finding their ads in shady corners of the web through their programmatic ad buys. Programmatic advertising is both cost and time-efficient, but often comes with the added risk of brands' ads appearing next to questionable content they would rather not be associated with.
Business Insider reached out to Kellogg's, Kraft, and Hertz, but had not heard back at the time of publication.