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I reported 3 of Shell's ads:

enter image description here

enter image description here

which were shown on Stack Overflow.

This ad is offensive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnQSa_AVpSo, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uuW4AP8M4M and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2yPii0yz10. The Shell company runs by destroying Africa. You (Stack Overflow and Stack Exchange) are becoming a part of the dirty business by encouraging their advertisement and giving them space.

They probably are shown on other SE sites, too.

Can Shell's advertisements be removed? It's like advertising Gazprom (a Russian gas company) during the Russia - Ukraine war.

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    The most concerning part is that you obviously aren't using an ad-blocker, which would exterminate all kapitalist outings, diminishing ad revenue across the board, making it impossible for SE to offer their services for free. So they go belly up and you have to put your soapbox at reddit HQ instead. This certainly makes the internet a better place.
    – rene Mod
    Commented Oct 8, 2022 at 7:20
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    @rene, LOL, yes. I had installed some Chrome extensions (I prefer Chrome over Brave etc.) to block ads, but I disabled them for something. Thanks for reminding!
    – The Amateur Coder
    Commented Oct 8, 2022 at 7:25
  • The references are about oil spills in the Niger Delta (Nigeria). That is bad, but it is not about the entire continent of Africa.
    – This_is_NOT_a_forum
    Commented Oct 8, 2022 at 12:36
  • SE even allows Russians to access its public Q&A and people there claiming that SE supported the war...
    – Meta Andrew T.
    Commented Oct 9, 2022 at 13:28
  • @MetaAndrewT., I would actually support Russia (Russia is actually the victim), probably the war too, as Russia in most ways is right.
    – The Amateur Coder
    Commented Apr 11, 2023 at 21:28

1 Answer 1

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The display of an advertisement is not—nor should it be taken to imply—endorsement of the company or product that is being advertised.

If you dislike Shell's policies, by all means, refuse to do business with them. Also feel free to speak out against them and campaign for recognition/change. But don't interpret ads on Stack Exchange sites as implying that Stack Exchange, its employees, or any of its users support this company or any of its policies.

As with posts, the "offensive" flag doesn't mean that the broader context of the item is offensive. It means that the actual item (i.e., what you directly see) is inherently offensive. For example, if the ad depicted a person holding up their middle finger to the Earth, or said "F#(% the environment; buy our gas!", then that might be reasonably flagged as offensive. These ads are not inherently offensive.

Similarly, contra your example, advertisements for a Russian company should not be taken as support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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