A group of the European Parliament members addressed big brands including Lidl. Coca-Cola and L'Oreal, asking them to stop advertising on pro-Russian media outlets in the Balkans, according to Politico online magazine.

In a letter sent by Bulgarian MEP Andrey Kovatchev, co-signed by 15 other MEPs from the center-right, liberals, socialists and the Greens, they ask 15 brands to “rigorously review [their] advertising policies to ensure that your expenditures do not, even unintentionally, fund outlets known for disseminating harmful disinformation.”

The list of the contacted companies include Lidl, Delhaize Group, Procter & Gambler, Coca-Cola, A1, Yettel, Ferrero, Heineken, Mars, Mondelez, L’Oréal, GlaxoSmithKlein (GSK), Bosch, Samsung and Amazon.

Politico mentions two media outlets from Serbia – TV Pink and TV Happy, and their reporting that Russia had been “under aggression for a long time” itself and “was forced” into conducting a “special military operation” in Ukraine, the euphemism coined by Moscow to refer to its full-scale invasion of the country.

“Many media organizations that promote pro-Kremlin disinformation often use advertising bought by reputable companies to strengthen their credibility,” Kovatchev told Politico, adding that these brands were not always aware they could end up “support[ing] pro-Russian propaganda channels.”

It’s not just about the money, the lawmakers’ letter said. The reputation and power of these brands “inadvertently lends [these media] legitimacy, exacerbating the proliferation and impact of disinformation.”

The MEPs are asking the companies to side with “truth and integrity by carefully reallocating advertising budgets away from platforms that compromise these core values.”

A spokesperson for GSK told POLITICO the company didn’t advertise in the Balkans.

A spokesperson for Lidl said it already took action “a couple of months before the letter” and has “significantly reduced” the spending on channels Pink TV and Happy TV since mid-2023 and has stopped advertising on the latter in 2024. Lidl has no contractual relationship with any “pro-Russia media in Bulgaria,” they added.