I was on my way to the movies the other night when I was confronted by this ad on my Flixster app. I'm guessing I'm not the only one who's seen it and my purpose here today is to see how you all feel about Living Social's tactic. I guess I could just give you two choices: I Love Living Social or I Hate Living Social, but I'm not a huge fan of forcing engagement in the direction I want.
Don't get me wrong. I'm an ad girl and I'm also a huge fan of free apps. I have no problem pushing "no thanks" if I'm not interested in the sponsor's message. I even appreciate the more creative phrasing in lieu of the traditional opt-out options. But there are three things I take very seriously:
1) Words. Don't force me to say (or select) something untrue, no matter how trite the topic.
2) My attitude. Hate is not part of my life and I make it a rule to never say it.
3) Cupcakes.
So now I have all these bad feelings about a brand I have no reason to dislike, just because I wasn't interested in interacting with them at that particular moment. I feel manipulated. I feel frustrated. I feel like I should apologize to the entire genre of petite pastries I was forced to publicly denounce.
I'll be doing just that this evening by a demonstration of confectionary devotion – one cupcake at a time, but meanwhile, I'd love to hear what you guys think.
Jen Wright, Yaffe Social Media Strategist & Lover of Cupcakes the World Over
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I couldn’t agree with you more Jen! This very ad comes through my Pandora stream on a regular basis and while I accept and am okay with Pandora’s free version having ads, I have issue with this one as well. I LOVE cupcakes, however I do not wish to participate in Living Social, do not make me lie to get that point across!
I’m so glad someone else noticed this, I thought I was the only one.
I wouldn’t worry too much about it… cupcakes just called and said some really nasty things about you.
Definitely a half-baked recipe for engagement, so to speak.
Seriously, add me to those drawing a line between clever and crass. Words matter — each and every one, in all settings. They create moods or wreck ’em. They bring instant recognition or aversion. They can make us grin or feel manipulated, frustrated and nearly apologetic, as you put it, Jen.
Yes, ‘h–e’ is a four-letter word worth trying to avoid, even if it takes three extra keystrokes to use ‘dislike.’
I’m more devoted to language than petite pastries, and agree that Living Social’s word choice leaves a bitter taste. Good topic to, ahem, chew on!
Oh. Don’t get me started on how nauseated I become from hearing the frivolous things people h@+#. You hit the nail on the head with this one, Jen.
Jen,
So incredibly nice to have a talk with you at a blog again! And I’m so glad someone else had seen this, though regret you’ve also had to say you hate cupcakes! If you’re ever in Detroit, we’re doing cupcakes!
Dibble,
They’re just still mad about my foray into custards last summer. They’re a very jealous dessert.
Alan,
As always, you thoughtfulness and craft with words is so welcome. ‘Dislike’ is far preferred. And as I get older, I even avoid that, as I know that the aversion will probably pass!
Hubert,
Seriously. Or how quickly people say that a business #failed because of something like not having an outlet available for their Blackberry to charge. Silly rabbits.
So great to see you all over here and have some solidarity on my cupcake crisis.