TikTok tries last-ditch operation to avoid ban

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The risk is very concrete. A bill currently being considered by the US Congress could result in the virtual ban of TikTok in the United States. The Chinese platform would no longer be available on the main application stores, unless ByteDance, its parent company, accepts a resale. The threat is so concrete, and parliamentarians seem so motivated, that the social network has started a last-ditch operation with Uncle Sam with a fairly impressive marketing strategy.

Colossal sums invested in advertising

The New York Times details the TikTok's efforts to influence US senators and the general public. According to data from the company AdImpact, the service spent $3.1 million on advertising in spots broadcast over the past three weeks. It specifically targets key states in the next presidential election to tip the scales. Finally, $100,000 in ads on Facebook and Instagram were recently invested.

Far from hiding this strategy, TikTok fully assumes it. The platform even explains having spent even more money than these specialists describe. Quoted by our colleagues, Michael Hughes, his spokesperson specifies: “We believe that the general public should know that the government is trying to trample on the rights to freedom of& #8217;voice of 170 million Americans and devastating seven million small businesses across the country.”

< p>The efforts of the Chinese social network do not stop there. It encourages its users to mobilize under #KeepTikTok to tip the scales, while American influencers are asked to speak out to plead their cause.

Internet users talk about how using the service helped them manage their mental health, face the consequences of their disability, or even face other life tragedies. A very positive image of the platform is therefore given to older citizens who do not know the social network well, often accused of being nothing more than a spying machine in the service of the communist regime in Beijing.

Quoted by the American newspaper, Cait Lamberton, professor of marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, underlines: &# 8220;TikTok presents itself as a brand that champions freedom and democratization of communication and, frankly, a lot of values ​​that most people feel comfortable with”.

It remains to be seen whether this strategy will really work. According to some observers, this intense lobbying greatly displeased the elected representatives of the House of Representatives. Rarely in the United States during an election year, both Democrats and Republicans appear ready to work together to bring this bill to fruition.

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