Political activist group GetUp plans to pour more advertising dollars into a campaign against supermarket group Coles and its technology provider Palantir, a US-based data analytics, surveillance and defence contractor.
GetUp last week purchased time on hundreds of digital billboard ads in shopping centres across the country, all within 50 metres of a Coles store.
The ad aimed to inform shoppers of Coles use of Palantir technology, reading "Here at Coles, we're always watching you,” while mimicking Cole’s advertising style, colours and aesthetic at first glance.
However, Coles says the software has no direct access to customer surveillance feeds and is used for supply chain management, bakery production planning, staff rosters and evaluating promotions.
AdNews understands footage of the campaign has now been viewed online more than four million times, despite the billboard ads being taken down within two days, well before the intended run time was over.
"We can't prove Coles was behind the ad pull, but the timing certainly speaks volumes,” said Hayden Rodgers, senior campaigner at GetUp.
AdNews understands Coles has denied any involvement in the removal of this advertisement.
"Palantir is a foreign AI war machine used to target and kill Palestinians, and it's part of the kill chain protocol feeding the US's illegal war in Iran,” said Rodgers.
“It also helps ICE (in the US) tear immigrant grandparents and children from their homes.
"Australians have told us they want to know why a company like that is in partnership with one the country's biggest supermarkets, and handling the mountain of surveillance data Coles collects.
"GetUp will not allow this completely unethical partnership to go unnoticed and plans to use the remaining ad spend to amplify the partnership in other ways."
Coles told AdNews the software was used for data and analytics.
“Coles use this software as a data integration and analytics software platform, which helps our team members make practical, informed decisions across our business,” said a spokesperson for Coles.
“The software is used for bakery production planning, trading performance analysis and rostering. It's an operational platform focused on helping stores run more effectively.
“The software is deployed within Coles’ own environment and is operated and isolated under Coles controls. Palantir does not control the data, nor can it independently repurpose it.”
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