How much money did Zuckerberg make from the elections in Bulgaria
Facebook can be used for a variety of things – from posting a recipe for Christmas sarma to officially using it to the people, Boyko Borisov and Slavi Trifonov. In Mark Zuckerberg’s network, these calls can reach more users for a fee.
But while Borissov and Trifonov’s profile does not need advertising because national television quoted them during the day, politicians with less than 11 years in power or 20 years on screen are compensated by paid Facebook posts. And the money they gave for the last election is not small.
Mark and the Bulgarian parties
Candidates for MPs, presidents and favorites of the sovereign have spent nearly BGN 1.3 million for advertising on Facebook around the last elections in Bulgaria.
The amount of 673,922 euros has been published register for political advertising on the social network for the period August 15 – November 27, 2021
With a similar amount (BGN 1.5 million) days, the mayor of Sofia Fandakova is following. He barely manages to renew the capital’s budget in order for the municipal hospitals to survive at the new electricity prices. And while the ventilators in the compartments for COVID-19 you are already working on the expensive electricity, a Facebook report shows that a lot of money has been spent on propaganda of the candidates with a firm position against vaccines.
For example, EUR 3 854 paid by a party “Revival”And equipment candidate for president Kostadin Kostadinov. Another 2,186 euros were given by “Attack”And about 3,000 euros from smaller anti-wax parties and organizations. Anyone can advertise on Facebook, you can register, who is responsible for the publication and pay in a transparent manner.
The change in numbers
Detailed as the notes of a freshman at Harvard are the accounts of “We continue the change“. As a stand-alone advertiser, the coalition has spent the most money on Facebook – 131,107 euros. With their regional campaigns, the amount increases to 157,913 euros. The scope of “We continue the changes” is evident in the reaction on the social network.
“We continue the change” have spent the most money on Facebook – 131,107 euros.
“If I see another ad with Kiril Petkov on my wall, I will explode “, wrote a popular character on Facebook before the election. But this was a compliment to the former caretaker ministers, because the character in question is exactly from the target group, as well as many other stated supporters of “Democratic Bulgaria”. The mantra of Kiril Petkov and Asen Vassilevthat working in a team echoed in their Facebook campaign, where none of their candidates were advertised individually.
Large-scale Democrats
Individual performances are the preferred approach in “Democratic Bulgaria“, They advertised as much together as they did separately. The center-right coalition has posted ads on Facebook for 74,233 euros, and with promotions of individual candidates, the amount has reached 100,865 euros.
The parties are advertised by the coalition and independently. “Yes, Bulgaria” gave another 74,233 euros, “Democrats for Strong Bulgaria” (DSB) – another 2,746 euros, and “Green Movement” – 6,362 euros. Large-scale campaign with unified and modern design.
If we add up all the expenses of the parties in the coalition and of the individual candidates from Democratic Bulgaria, it turns out that the city right has spent 40% more on Facebook than “We continue the change”.
The campaign is focused on the most famous faces of “Democratic Bulgaria” such as Hristo Ivanov,, Elisaveta Belobradova,, Antoaneta Tsoneva etc., for which EUR 38,173 were paid from the budget. Ivaylo Mirchev he also advertised on his behalf with 20,754 euros apart from party money.
COAT OF ARMS from A to Z.
The regional approach is based on the coalition GERB-SDS. Boyko Borissov’s people advertise on Facebook just like they build highways – with many subcontractors.
GERB’s headquarters itself is not an advertiser on Facebook, but all local structures are promoted in alphabetical order and from A to Z. Starting from “GERB – Blagoevgrad” with a budget of 676 euros and ending with “GERB – Yambol” with 689 euros. All constituencies are covered. They have individual promotions Daniel Mitov,, Toma Bikov and one or two more GERB candidates, but with insignificant sums.
For the 596,456 votes received in the elections, Boyko Borissov’s party advertised with 12 euro cents per vote.
The GERB-UDF coalition has spent a total of 74,738 euros on Facebook. This is not a big budget for the richest party – according to official reports, but there is a good return. For the 596,456 votes received in the elections, Boyko Borissov’s party advertised with 12 euro cents per vote. For comparison – each vote won costs “We continue the change” at 21 euro cents, and “Democratic Bulgaria” – 1.60 euros.
The MRF has not spent a penny on advertising on the social network.
Socialists do not like Facebook
The change in the communication strategy of BSP, which Cornelia Ninova started more than a year ago with the radical changes in the press service of Positano. The BSP leader already has her own channel on Tik Tok, but the party has saved on Facebook ads. Individual Ninova publications are popular with a total of 2,955 euros.
The young and ambitious Yavor Bozhankov was advertised for 1,798 euros. Kaloyan Pargov in Sofia and Christian Vigenin in Plovdiv and Yambol have similar amounts. Major players in the socialist team as Krum Zarkov and Dragomir Stoynev either they have not advertised with Zuckerberg, or the Facebook archive does not report a budget below 50 euros.
All BSP candidates have spent a total of 4,871 euros, reaching an average of 15,000 views per sponsored post. For comparison, the daughter of the red energy Rumen Ovcharov – Yana Ovcharova has 17,000 views on YouTube of her song with Alfredo Torres “Mucho Hot”. And she, unlike her sister Theodora, was not even a candidate for MP.
Seven eighths of 25
Party “There are such people(ITN) is also not among the most generous on Facebook, but has tried to advertise more of its list leaders. People of Slavi Trifonov have paid 40,404 euros for social media advertising since August. With part of this amount, an interview with Iva Miva and Lubomir Karimanski for their departmental television is more popular.
However, the main budget of ITN is distributed through a referendum – both the candidates unknown to the general public and the video sessions of Slavi Trifonov are equally advertised. All the paid activities on Facebook of “There is such a people” are richly decorated with the party’s logo and lavishly emphasize the number of the ballot, but the voters did not remember it well, judging by the votes in the previous elections.
Here is the task with a condition for fans of mathematics: How did the 198-centimeter-tall TV party manage to take 25 seats with 1/3 of the budget for “We continue the change”, using only Television 7/8?
Fasten your seat belts
The fighter pilot Rumen Radev and the familiar team did not rush to advertise on Facebook, known data. The initiative committee of the Radev-Yotova couple has spent a total of 10,421 euros on the social network. The BSP, which supported Radev half-heartedly in the traditional media, did not advertise it on Zuckerberg’s network, but not at all.
The case of prof. Anastas Gerdjikov. The youth organization of GERB has spent 15,118 euros on advertisements, but a decent part of them are in support of the rector. The initiative committee of Anastas Gerdjikov and Nevyana Miteva has separately given 15,088 euros for the couple’s ads on Facebook.
Democratic presidential candidate backed by Democratic Bulgaria Lozan Panov has tried to promote his image with 7,496 euros.
The candidate for president of the MRF Mustafa Karaday, which reached 11.6% in the first round, did not advertise on Facebook.
For trolls and humans
The archive with advertisers on Facebook during the last parliamentary elections also contains pages for outright “trolling”, or in an attempt to translate it into Bulgarian – for “masking”. There is no way to know if the backs are political forces, backstage players or just not having fun.
For example, Harvard Fuck, the main profile photo is a Canadian maple leaf with the face of Kiril Petkov, who spent 886 euros on fat mixtures and cartoons with the former minister.
The more pretentious “Zeitgeist Bulgaria” have paid 4,236 euros on Facebook to smash every minister they come across and from time to time to brag about Denitsa Sacheva or Toma Bikov.
The legally registered in 2020 in the Sofia City Court political party “Brigade” also advertised on the social network in the last elections. The party has spent 2,986 euros to promote “the harm of vaccines against COVID-19”And to explain to the Bulgarian user on the social network that Kiril Petkov and Asen Vassilev are the American spies.
Whether the sums paid in the August-November 2021 campaign helped the parties, they will judge. But the Facebook ad helped with two things.
First – it does not harm the environment, because after it there is no paper or non-degradable vinyl from billboards. Otherwise, the money given on Facebook could turn into thousands of thickly layered posters on the walls, millions throwing leaflets and tons of unnecessary vinyl in the streets to rot for a million years in some illegal dump.
And second, digital advertising helps the public environment. No matter how much criticism Facebook endures for not fighting fake news enough when it comes to money, Zuckerberg’s network is completely transparent. If someone is advertised immorally or illegally, this can be seen by everyone in the advertising archive and easily proven in court.
Well, they need a functioning judiciary, but now they will manage the case allocation software.
* Opinions presented in the “Opinion” section may not take into account the position of Free Europe.
Top 10 parties, coalitions and presidential candidates according to their advertising budget in euros for Facebook (15.08 – 22.11, 2021) **
Name | Advertiser | Amount |
Number |
|
1 | We continue the change | We continue the change | 131107 | 134 |
2 | Yes, Bulgaria | Yes, Bulgaria | 74233 | 200 |
3 | Democratic Bulgaria |
Democratic Bulgaria |
54386 | 429 |
4 | There are such people | There are such people | 40040 | 157 |
5 | MGERB – Sofia | GERB-SDS | 15118 | 186 |
6 | Anastas Gerdjikov – Really united | Initiative Committee | 11021 | 114 |
7 | Rumen Radev | Initiative Committee | 9971 | 100 |
8 | CODE | CODE | 8500 | 77 |
9 | GERB – Sofia | GERB-SDS | 8201 | 60 |
10 | Lozan Panov | Lozan Panov | 7496 | 45 |
** – Some values may change depending on the day of writing the article (20.11.2021), as Facebook is evaluated in real time if the requested amounts are exceeded or not spent for the period of the requests.