Brands often think the biggest risk in advertising is not being seen, but I am here to argue for the places you shouldn’t be seen. It’s time to talk about X - a lot of us have already left the platform, but some brands are lingering around thanks to reduced rate advertising and inflated clickthrough rates.

Sticking around on X is the advertising equivalent of playing with matches in a firework factory. We all know the platform has changed, but Grok has taken things a step too far.

For those who aren’t in the know, Grok is X’s proprietary ai chatbot tool that was once used mainly to debunk the fake news Elon Musk and his army of besties posted on the platform, which was the ultimate own goal, but in recent times it has taken on a nefarious tone that isn’t being regulated by seemingly anyone, leading to governments around the world looking at ways to ban the site.

It's nto just edgy jokes or bad takes. Grok is being used for things that veer into illegal territory, with zero accountability. A quick look on the wikipedia page alone gives you a brief overview of the controversies around Grok - because that is much safer than actually going to X to find out for yourself. From conspiracy theories, praise of Adolf Hitler, antisemitism, to creating nonconsensual, sexualized images of undressed women and children.

If you haven’t already, here’s why you need to pull the plug:

• Zero Regulation: Give people a powerful AI with no rules, and they won't build bridges. They'll build weapons. And your brand is funding it.
• Brand Hazard: Placing your carefully crafted campaign next to unchecked, potentially illegal AI generation is a PR disaster waiting to happen.
• Moral Complicity: Ignorance isn't an excuse anymore. If you're paying the bill, you're endorsing the house rules. Or the lack of.
• The Wild West: There is nothing "innovative" about ignoring the law. It’s just chaos masquerading as tech.

Of course, walking away from reach is hard, it is a numbers game after all. But your brand matters more. So, the next time you’re planning your media buy, don’t justify it. Take a stand, close the wallet, protect your brand, and let them figure it out on their own dime.

And if you need to improve your cost per lead or click through rates, feel free to reach out. Our latest campaign delivered serious results in just three months: video completion rates jumped from 1% to 93%, cost per ThruPlay dropped from $4.26 to $0.29, cost per lead reduced by 43% year-on-year, and lead volume increased by 193% (and we’re only 3 months in!).

Rickie Marsden & Madeleine Carter