Several large brands are pulling their advertisements from YouTube until they receive assurances the ads won't run with videos promoting racist and anti-Semitic views, and one association is calling for reforms to the online platform.

PepsiCo, Walmart, Dish, Starbucks and GM all pulled their ads from YouTube, owned by Google, according to technology news site The Verge. They were only the latest companies to do so after the British newspaper, The Times, ran an investigative article noting many well-known brands were appearing along with videos promoting hate speech and terrorist activities.

The ads were not intentionally placed alongside the videos. Rather, Google allows companies to purchase ads that will automatically appear on many of its properties, with placement usually determined by algorithms. YouTube currently relies on users to flag hateful and racist videos. http://bit.ly/2n9xY4J

In a statement, Bob Liodice, CEO of the Association of National Advertisers, said the concerns expressed by the advertisers were "well-founded."

"No marketer should ever place its brand at risk," Liodice said. "All agency and media partners should recognize that—above all other objectives—protecting the brand should stand head and shoulders above everything else."

Liodice called on all digital advertising platforms "to take the necessary steps to guarantee the safety and reputations of our brands."

"Brands choose those platforms to work hard for them to achieve all of their business and brand building objectives," he said. "But the most important of those priorities is ‘to do no harm.'"

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