Mar 10


Huh?

by Terry 10 March 2009


I know I shouldn’t look at these things, but Facebook has another new application, this one called The Pharmacy Counter. No one sent it to me, but it came to my attention when one of my friends “gave” Effexor to someone. So I looked into it. At first my hackles came up over the number of psych drugs on the list, but as I thought about it I was more puzzled than angry.

Available are:

  • Risperdal (bipolar)
  • Topomax (migraine)
  • Vytorin (cholesterol)
  • Protonix (acid reflux)
  • Actos (diabetes)
  • Lexapro (depression)
  • Effexor (depression)
  • Seroquel (bipolar or schizophrenia)
  • Singular (allergies)
  • Plavix (heart)
  • Prevacid (acid reflux)
  • Advair (asthma)
  • Nexium (stomach acid)
  • Lipitor (cholesterol)

There are others available, but I refuse to send it to anyone to “unlock” more options. Would Viagra and Cialis be among those hidden treasures? Or herpes treatment? What about chemotherapy? I have no idea.

What exactly is the point of this? It has zero humor potential, unless I’m really missing something, and while I can see that sending an anti-psychotic might give someone secret satisfaction at the “insult,” that pleasure is limited because, unlike lithium, you have to be taking most of these drugs to know what they are. Aside from the psychs, I had to look most of them up to see what they are used to treat.

So if it’s not humor and not insult, what is it? Then it occurred to me. This is advertising. I’d be willing to bet that the app designer is getting kickbacks from Big Pharma for product placement and like good little consumers, people are falling for it.

Now I wonder: what kind of payout is Facebook getting for listing this app? I’m getting more disenchanted by the day, which is a shame, because I’ve gotten hooked up with some cousins again after a decade of no contact, and I love playing Scrabble. But I’m starting to feel manipulated.

I’ve got to stop looking at this stuff. It only upsets me.

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9 Comments

9 Responses to “Huh?”

  1. Ahistoricality on March 10th, 2009 5:11 pm

    Facebook is like a TV station, a cable channel, or a magazine, or a newspaper: they provide a service which attracts an audience. Then they sell access to that audience to advertisers: advertisers will pay more for an audience that is more likely to be interested in their product, so Facebook, which knows a lot about its users, should be able, in theory, to sell high-potential audiences to advertisers for good money.

    Someone who uses this prescription gift app is giving Facebook a lot of information about themselves and/or the recipient.

    So far, Facebook has been treading a fine line (i.e. a big gray area): trying to be useful to their advertisers without blatantly prostituting their users or violating their individual privacy. But I’m not sure they’re making all the money they think they should be making, yet. So they’re being more aggressive about extracting information, and they’re being more aggressive about finding ways to draw in advertisers, and they’re being more aggressive about attracting the high-value 18-35 demographic (though I still don’t know why that is; they’re not the ones with all the money) by being “edgy”….

    Yeah, it’s a little cynical. OK, it’s a lot cynical, but I didn’t make up the business model.  (Quote)

  2. CGHill on March 10th, 2009 5:33 pm

    No generics, I notice.

    (Same cynicism, lower word count.)  (Quote)

  3. Sherry Chandler on March 11th, 2009 7:17 am

    Well, A, I think you’ve gone some way to explaining my question — which is cui bono? Who benefits from these “games” and how. So far the ads that show up on my Facebook page are nothing I’d be remotely interested in — diet plans and designer purses. But then I’m probably a marketing nightmare for Facebook. Who buys poetry books?  (Quote)

  4. Sherry Chandler on March 11th, 2009 7:22 am

    Oh — I’ve been pretty neutral about the “poetry stuff” one and hadn’t seen the drug one — thank goodness — but today I got invited to nominate and be nominated for “most likeable” and it told me I rated 29th most likeable among my list of “friends.”

    What is this? Grade school?  (Quote)

  5. Terry on March 11th, 2009 7:15 pm

    We should start a cynics club, CG. I’m getting more and more so the older I get.

    I’ve wondered about their business model, A. I give them as little info as possible, and opt out of the all the game/gift things except for Scrabble. I don’t know how much advertising they feed into the site because I use Firefox with Ad Block Plus, which zaps the ads. Highly recommend that, btw.

    I’ve wondered, too, how they value the company. Business Week says that it went on the market for $2 BILLION – don’t think they found a taker, though. I think you’re right that they’re anticipating a lot more revenue than they’re generating right now.  (Quote)

  6. Terry on March 11th, 2009 7:18 pm

    Good lord. A popularity contest? That’s a new low. Though I suppose I should have seen it coming, given that to so many success means hundreds and hundreds of people on their “friend” lists.

    FWIW, I think you’re very likeable. Ppbt to anyone who says otherwise.  (Quote)

  7. Sherry Chandler on March 12th, 2009 4:28 am

    ABP installed. Presto! They’re gone.

    Do you recommend a subscription list or do you custom-buld one?  (Quote)

  8. Terry on March 12th, 2009 10:58 am

    I just use the default one, and it’s never missed an ad. It even blocks flash ads. It’s a great plugin!  (Quote)

  9. Rebecca Clayton on March 14th, 2009 6:02 am

    All the middle school girls at this end of Pocahontas County are on Facebook, despite being under 14. Last spring’s sixth grade science class used it to be mean to each other round the clock, without the risk of hair-pulling and punching that normally goes along with in-person name-calling, gossip, and insults.

    Sherry, you’ve gone right to the heart of the matter–it is grade school. (I substituted in the fourth grade this week–those girls are on Facebook too.)  (Quote)

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