Save & Win! -- Just LIKE us on Facadebook

I have a special sort of hatred in my heart today for Facebook. It's been smoldering ever since I noticed that it's becoming impossible to enter contests or receive coupons and discounts without liking a company's Facebook page.
I started noticing this strange sort of monopoly when I received an email from a company stating that I could get a free rental if I liked them on Facebook. Well, I'd love to promote your company, but the thing is is that I don't have a Facebook account and I don't need nor want one either. I proceeded to write the company an email complaining that it's wrong to only give something for free to those who are registered on Facebook, or as I like to call it, Facadebook. The company responded by apologizing and stated that all their freebies and discounts won't involve Facebook, but some will.
Well, today, I'm looking through my grocery store's ad for this weekend and I see a notice for a pet photo contest. If your pet wins, you get a $500 gift certificate. That's cool and who couldn't use a grocery store gift card with the way times are? Then, I saw it. The rules stipulate that you have to enter the contest and submit the photo via Facebook.
Now, I'm pissed.
In my opinion, Facadebook is about as close as you can get to Mark of the Beast. But, I digress...
Let's look at the definition of 'monopoly'.

mo·nop·o·ly
   [muh-nop-uh-lee] Show IPA
noun, plural mo·nop·o·lies.
1. exclusive control of a commodity or service in a particular market, or a control that makes possible the manipulation of prices. Compare duopoly, oligopoly.
2. an exclusive privilege to carry on a business, traffic, or service, granted by a government.
3. the exclusive possession or control of something.
4. something that is the subject of such control, as a commodity or service.
5. a company or group that has such control.
dictionary.reference.com...

I might be wrong about this, but I thought monopolies were illegal, and I'd like you to pay special attention to the second definition provided.
They always mention on contest and coupon rules that no purchase is necessary, so shouldn't it also be unnecessary to have to join a cult or group following in order to participate?
It's just wrong. I think all companies need to abandon the SS Facadebook and run their contests and offer their coupons and discounts through their own exclusive website so everyone can participate -- not just Facebook members. I mean, do companies really need Facebook acting as a sort of pimp for their products and services? Whatever happened to cutting out the middle man?
I understand that companies need to promote themselves, so why can't there be a national business directory on the internet where people can "like" that particular business without having to join (unless they also have a business and want to promote themselves). I've seen some websites where you can Agree/Disagree with a comment without having to log in (I think the Daily Mail's comment section is like this), so this business directory could be the same way. Please note the bottom line here is that BUSINESSES are being promoted in this situation and no individuals are having to provide any personal info about themselves and those they know in order to receive discounts and enter contests.
Not to mention, how can the contest even be fair if Facebook is involved. For example, the person conducting the judging for the pet photo contest might be visiting the contestents' Facebook pages and using this info to choose the winner instead of going just by the pet photo submitted. The winner could be chosen by who they know or even their appearence. (The pet's owner might actually have been the one to win the photo contest!)
I'm sure you can see by now how convoluted this all starts to become and that we shouldn't have to be part of a social group in order to participate in a business' deals.

Anyways, that's my rant and I feel much better now.
Have a wonderful day & weekend, everyone!

Great rant.

There are companies who run school fundraisers via Facebook. They'll set a one month window, and the school with the most likes for the company gets the prize. In the past my school got five hundred bucks from Target and five thousand from US Cellular for this. Which is great, of course.

But I have a sneaking suspicion that these contests have ulterior motives. Dont know what those might be, but I think we will find out eventually....

reply to post by smyleegrl


That's great for the schools, but I'm wondering what about the schools where the poor and underprivilaged do on those contests since these are the families who don't have computers at home or have computers or can't afford the internet. I suppose they could go to the library or use a friend's computer, but they are still at a disadvantage.

I'm so glad you said this:

But I have a sneaking suspicion that these contests have ulterior motives. Dont know what those might be, but I think we will find out eventually....

My thoughts exactly!
In regards to the pet photo contest, I can certainly see how this could be used to identify pit bull owners or those who are hoarding pets.
Thanks for you comments!

Good rant, I noticed this too and I can't stand it either. Though personally, I feel like facebook hurts the design industry to an extent. Companies using Facebook as their main website & presence on the web hurt the graphic design/web design market drastically making another degree category almost useless.