Amazingly realistic Facebook ads slamming the company from a 'provocative' street artist are blanketing NYC streets
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Paige Leskin
Aug 14, 2020, 23:02 IST
Provided by Anonymous
Several posters popped up Thursday across New York City that, at first glance, appear to be advertisements from Facebook.
However, the ads are fake and actually criticize the company. The art is by Winston Tseng, a street artist known for his realistic, tongue-in-cheek "ads" that have in the past parodied Fox News, Apple, and the NYC Department of Sanitation.
Advertisements that appear to promote Facebook Groups — emblazoned with iterations of the campaign's "More together" slogan — have been popping up across New York City this week. But a closer look of one ad reveals the phrase "We're more misinformed together." Another: "We're more outraged together."
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Tseng's ads seem to reference a report from May that showed Facebook's algorithms were instrumental in driving people apart, instead of bringing them together. As the Wall Street Journal reported, Facebook leaders were told about the platform's role in encouraging divisiveness — but decided to largely ignore and shelf the research.
A Facebook spokesperson said at the time that the team had "learned a lot since 2016," and was no longer part of "the same company."
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"We've built a robust integrity team, strengthened our policies and practices to limit harmful content, and used research to understand our platform's impact on society so we continue to improve," Facebook said in a statement in May.
Facebook did not respond to Business Insider's most recent request for comment.
Tseng has in recent years posted up similar parody ads meant to be provocative. His art often slams some aspect of current political affairs in wildly realistic advertisements. In one of his most well-known iterations, posters were put up on New York trash bins instructing people to "Keep NYC trash free." The ads featured art of people wearing red "Make America Great Again" hats, overlayed with a crossed-out red circle.
Previously, Tseng has created fake ads seeming to come from tech companies, like Apple and Twitter; retailers such as Chanel and GAP; and organizations including the NYC Department of Sanitation and the National Rifle Organization.
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