Lidl is no longer advertising on a Serbian TV channel found spreading Russian propaganda — though the grocery chain says it’s not a political decision.
The European company’s ad halt comes as researchers and nonprofits, including Check My Ads and Balkan Free Media Initiative, have been sounding the alarm about advertisers unknowingly funding the spread of propaganda.
Happy TV is one of the “primary sources of disinformation in Serbia,” a 2023 report from BFMI and Serbia’s Center for Research, Transparency and Accountability found. Russian disinformation is prevalent on the channel, it said, including “claims that ‘Russia was forced’ into conducting a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine.”
The report, Defunding Disinformation in the Balkans: How International Brands Support Russia’s Agenda, listed Lidl as one of the “main advertisers” on Happy TV at the time it was published, alongside Coca Cola, P&G, Heineken and more.
While CRTA researchers think it’s premature to “draw definitive conclusions about Lidl’s motivations” for the change, “we are hopeful that Lidl’s decision stems from a recognition of [Happy TV’s] role in disseminating disinformation and non-professional, unethical, and biased reporting,” Program Director Raša Nedeljkov told Check My Ads.
In an email, Lidl confirmed to Check My Ads that it “decided to stop advertising on the channel Happy TV since the beginning of 2024.” But the company said its decision was about properly informing its customers about its products, not taking a political stance.
“Procter and Gamble, and Coca Cola, and Lidl, are very likely not aware that they are on these pro-Russian disinformation channels,” Check My Ads CEO Claire Atkin told the European Parliament in September 2023 while presenting the report’s conclusions ahead of its release.
The presentation garnered “significant media attention, especially in Bulgaria,” which led to “companies like Lidl and Bosch ceasing their advertising,” BFMI Director Antoinette Nikolova said.
“Following the event in the European Parliament, [members] started collecting signatures for an open letter urging Western brands to reconsider their advertising policies in propaganda media, especially crucial in an election year,” Nikolova added.
BFMI has also spearheaded calls for the Italian government to raise this issue during its upcoming G7 Presidency this year.
As Happy TV continues to appear on televisions across Serbia, CRTA says it will watch for advertisers showing up in unsavory places, funding dark corners of the media world in the process.
“We continue to monitor the advertising decisions of major brands closely, including Lidl, and aim to influence other significant advertisers, such as Dutch retailer Dehleize and multinational Coca-Cola or P&G, to exercise greater caution and responsibility in their advertising placements,” Nedelijkov said.
“Our goal is to encourage these corporations to consider the broader implications of their financial support, particularly in terms of legitimizing platforms known for disseminating disinformation alongside their advertisements.”
CRTA’s efforts come as ad spending around the world is projected to hit $1 trillion this year — a reality that makes transparency in the advertising ecosystem more important than ever.
The industry, as it stands now, is opaque with almost no oversight and regulation. In fact, when the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA) studied the supply chain for programmatic advertising — which is how most ads are bought and sold nowadays — it couldn’t track where 3% of the money ended up.
Advertisers need to know where their money is going. It’s that simple.