Hulu will now accept political issue advertising after parent company The Walt Disney Co. reevaluated its advertising policies.
Disney unveiled the decision on Wednesday morning, saying that the new policy brings streamer Hulu in line with its general entertainment networks and ESPN+.
“After a thorough review of ad policies across its linear networks and streaming platforms over the last few months, Disney is now aligning Hulu’s political advertising policies to be consistent with the Company’s general entertainment and sports cable networks and ESPN+,” a Disney representative told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement. “Hulu will now accept candidate and issue advertisements covering a wide spectrum of policy positions, but reserves the right to request edits or alternative creative, in alignment with industry standards.”
Hulu had been facing public criticism (included a #boycottHulu hashtag) from groups aligned with Democrats after it rejected ads related to abortion and gun safety. The ads, from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Democratic Governors Association, were rejected by Hulu, even as they were permitted to run on other platforms likes Facebook and YouTube, as well as on Disney-owned ESPN and a Disney-owned ABC affiliate.
Disney has long been protective with its brands, and has said that it won’t allow political ads or ads for alcohol on Disney+ when that streaming service’s advertising tier launches later this year.
