Facebook doesn't like the taste of Burger King's app

Here’s an interesting story:

Burger King developed a new Facebook application tied to a promotional offer: You delete 10 Facebook friends and we’ll give you a free whopper.

Really clever – and bloody funny.

Facebook axed it, but that might have been a mistake: Burger king’s promo demonstrated the potential for really engaging promotions on Facebook. If Facebook wants to make more money than God (ie: Google) then they need more companies to work on creative new direct response and engagement devices. Otherwise, TV will remain a more effective channel – at least until a new mega-fad emerges or until TV and the internet become the same thing.

A better Facebook response to Burger King would be to take the risk and let the app run, while quickly finding a new promo partner that will give something back to users (eg: a free song on iTunes?) for every 10 friends who post a picture of you (or some other thing that suggests ‘closer’ friends). Even if the net effect on linked friends was negative, the net effect on user involvement, media attention and overall spin would be very positive.

And at the end of the day, geeks with 600 Facebook friends ought to realise the more Facebook friends you have, the less of a life you probably have. Getting free burgers while learning that lesson is a great deal! And the lesson might not hurt Facebook – it might even make its appeal more durable, by getting people to separate the wheat from the chaff and improve the actual quality of their “Facebook time”.