June 1, 2010

You must like me

First Nike did it. Now Havianas. Both brands have asked people to click ‘like’ button in order to get something. It feels quite dirty to me.


Nike asked users to click ‘like’ to see their ad. For me, they just got away with it, because I did like it. But it’s still dirty. And in fact you were clicking to ‘like’ Nike Football, not the ad at all. Hmm. The Havianas example isn’t quite as bad in comparison.

But would I complain if a brand said ‘wear this badge saying you like us and we’ll give you 20% off’? Probably not. What if they said ‘shout that you like us or you can’t come in our shop’? I’d probably punch them, right in the face.

‘Like’ culture is still in its embryonic stage, so I guess it’s going to get a bit abused while people work out the etiquette. I’m also British, so it doesn’t take much to make me frown about things ;)

Does like-bribing annoy anyone else? Shall I shut up?

4 comments tagged: , ,
  • http://twitter.com/timwhitlock Tim

    I don’t like it either. Most users probably don’t realize the power behind that little click. (Spam your friends and sign up for updates) I think it creates a grey area in the whole opt in/out model – Is your news feed a push or pull medium? I think that’s shifting and as you say, people will get exploited to a certain extent while the world catches up.

  • http://www.no-mans-blog.com Asi

    I’m with you and Tim here. It’s less about the ‘like’ and more about the “you-shout-about-us-to-your-network-in-order-to-get-stuff” that’s is, yes, embryonic but already feels natural in places and hugely annoying in others.

    last time i got really pissed off was when Massive Attack did this Twitter films – I just ignored them as I didn’t like the forced sharing.

    I guess that just like anything else with brands on the web context and value will be king and queen respectively.

  • http://www.strategytreehouse.blogspot.com Katie Fitzgerald

    Great post.

    It’s funny how sharing can be used to replace currency. By liking the Nike spot it is instantly shared to your friends. Some marketers have been really smart about “share currency” (check out the IKEA example: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10404937-71.html).

    But as it usually goes, some don’t get the implications of what they are asking. If I love Nike, then I don’t care that all of my FB friends will see that I watched the spot. But curiosity doesn’t always connote liking. If someone is curious about what a brand is sharing, but hates the brand and decides it’s not worth the click and share, the brand loses the opportunity to engage because of forced sharing. But no free lunch right? I wonder if there’s a good example of a brand who found an interesting happy medium?

  • andy

    Hi Katie. Yes, quite.
    If you make me curious, you’re winning. I’m far more likely to enjoy expressing later that I ‘like’ what I saw if I’m doing it out of free will.

    I’m not a ventriloquist’s dummy, so take your hand out my arse. So to speak ;)