While working at Facebook might be a dream prospect for many, the current situation of the company is a PR nightmare, the full force of which has been levied against at its policy makers. Thus, people in executive posts of the tech giant are the most vulnerable to scrutiny at the moment, which could have had a big impact on CMO Antonio Lucio, who has decided to leave the company for good after joining it in 2018.
The soon to be former CMO joined the company in 2018 after serving HP as its global chief marketing and communications officer. During his short lived tenure at Facebook, he emphasised on increasing diversity in the company, and supported inclusion of women, people of colour and other under represented groups.
In a post addressing his departure from the company, he wrote, “This has been a very challenging year for all and an especially reflective year for me, following the passing of my mother before the lockdown.” Now, for the next and probably final chapter of his professional career, he plans to help advertising companies make decisions that promulgate university, inclusion and equity in their teams.
He said that now is a time for “reckoning for the nation and my industry,” adding that “Given the historical inflection point we are in as a country regarding racial justice, I have decided to dedicate 100% of my time to diversity, inclusion and equity.” He also said that “Although these issues have been core to my personal purpose for many years and they were an important element of my work, I want to make them my sole focus.”
He will work as the company’s CMO till September 16th, which will be his last day at the position. However, he plans to work with Facebook to find a suitable replacement for him till the end of the year.
His journey at the company has been anything but smooth sailings. During his time at Facebook, the company spent lavish amounts of money on advertising in a bid to rebuild trust in the industry after several accusations were levied against it for its privacy practices. Moreover, the situation exacerbated with the worsening state of American societal landscape, after several of President Trump’s inflammatory posts (regarding the Minneapolis riots) were left untouched.
This bias led to a prolific advertising ban against the company, the likes of which had never been seen before.
Thus, Mr. Lucio leaves the company during a very precarious time, and it’d be interesting to see how it tries to make up for the loss.
