Facebook "Likes" for Japanese Relief Offer Sparks Outrage

[Verlander]

It's a bit patronising and takes advantage of a poor situation, but I think people have more to worry about than some vile opportunists

Thats a really harsh thing to say mate, the end justifies the means here and as long as they donate the money it doesn't really matter.

They are doing a really good thing here provided people do one simple thing, and that simple thing doesn't do any a big disservice at all. The money they are donating and plan to donate is a lot and this plan is actually very smart and I applaud them for doing it, not only that but they are also doing a very good job at raising awareness.

Yet again calling them "vile opportunists" is a silly exaggeration and I'm sure they aren't doing it for completely selfish reasons, I don't care if they are trying to earn themselves attention and advertising money, it's better than the people who sit around not donating any money at all to charity (not saying anyone has to though, but it's a noble thing to do, I decided I wouldn't eat McDonalds last night and instead I ate some toast and gave $8 to charity and that makes me feel good, doing what these guys ask makes me feel good too, people like donating stuff, and people also don't like donating stuff cause then they can buy McDonalds and video games and stuff.)

I reckon the end justifies the means and the company itself has already donated more money than the 25,000$ they plan to give plus one of the developers have already given out a big personal donation.

I don't believe that the ends justify the means, but that's where we are different. I don't hate on them for donating money, I am anti this promotion. Maybe "vile" was too much, but I can't personally accept their self publicity off of the backs of the suffering

 

[RivFader86]

Same BS as always....people getting pissed because they have to do something (even though it is only clicking a button) without getting something out of it for themselves....plus people have some weird issue with other people getting attention...like all the weirdos flaming on youtube because someone has a "press like pls" or something like that at the end of their video.
I don't think it's a bad thing...japan get's the money it needs and mastiff get's some publicity it's a win/win imo...plus it gives people that don't have money to donate an opportunity to have helped a little.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

So Mastiff is offering to help and wants a little something beneficial in return? I fail to see the problem. They are not a wholly well established company and it is their money. Why shouldn't they seek a return? For everyone demanding they just give Japan the $25,000 because "they need it!" I ask you, how much have you donated? Zero? Yeah I thought so.

Reality check people, the vast majority of donations made by anyone is mired in ulterior motives. The most common reason being a tax rate off. Mastiff has merely lifted the veil. Ironically, it is far more probable they would be "liked" had they merely posted a link on their Facebook citing a donation made. People are gullible.

 

[findler]

I don't really care if companies tie in promoting themselves with providing relief. Just so long as the money gets donated and those people get help, I'm okay with it. It doesn't matter how the money got there, just that it gets there (with the exception of drug money etc. obviously).

 

[joshuaayt]

Japan won't care if the money they get comes from a somewhat tasteless publicity stunt.
Plus, they've already donated some money- plenty more than I've been able to donate, no doubt.
So they gain some publicity in the meantime- they benefit from their generosity, which is apparently bad?

I've never liked the whole "Charity which hastens to announce itself ceases to be charity" concept- either way, someone gets help. Sometimes people deserve to receive thanks for their good deeds.

 

[RaikuFA]

first you refuse to sell la pucelle to NISA now this?

for shame...

 

[Swifteye]

Why, when 99% of this site's news posts are sourced from another, more up to date site, does this video game website spend time, money and energy on general news? I believe we have things for that - news sites.

I'd like to see an up to date video game website, please.

If you don't like normal news than don't read normal news they make plenty of video game news articles all the time but hey. they thought some other non video game related stuff might be of interest to us but apparently they were wrong to invest in variety. Either that or your being a bit of a jerk.

 

[The_Blue_Rider]

Well its fine if they already donated and this is a bonus, but also in a way the liking thing makes sense, it makes people feel like theyre contributing so they can proudly say they supported japan in some way

 

[Jodah]

You know whats funny? If Zynga had done the same thing nobody would care. It is expected from them. But when someone else does it "WE MUST BURN THEM AT THE STAKE FOR THEY ARE HEATHEN WITCHES!"

 

[Exile714]

Think about it this way: it's not Mastiff offering to donate, it's people donating their "attention" in exchange for money which will go to Japan.

I pay my "attention" to advertisements in exchange for free news and entertainment. The Escapist is no exception, as right now there is an advert for Total War: Shogun 2 staring at me.

People's "attention" is worth something. So why not let them exchange some "attention" for Japan relief funds?

I also don't get the uproar over exploiting tragedy for profit. I think the original qualm over exploitation came from yellow journalism where people made up stories which cause more tragedy by their very existence. Mastiff didn't cause the earthquake, and their exploitation isn't hurting the Japanese people. At the very least, it will help or retain the status-quo.

On the other hand, why donate money at all? What is the money used for? Medical supplies, food, fuel, housing... all of which are sold by those who produce them. Are those people exploiting tragedy for profit? Of course they are. The Red Cross has executives who make 6-figure salaries... which means they earn a lot of money for exploiting tragedies around the world. But we're fine with that because they help and don't make things worse.

In conclusion: people should look at the exploitation of tragedy with a utilitarian mind. What effect does this action have on the situation? Is it a net positive? Does the effect range from positive to neutral? Only when exploitation makes things worse, such as charity scams, should exploiting tragedy be looked upon with a negative light.

 

[BrownGaijin]

Maybe the head of Mastiff should stand outside with a sign that says "Honk if you love Japan" and donate ten bucks for every buck. For example:

 

[internetzealot1]

Because God forbid that they ask for a button press in exchange for money. They don't have to donate anything, and they'd be better off if they never tried.

Hey, everyone. I'll donate seven dollars to Japan if a stripper falls out of the sky into my lap. Now that that's out, I guess I'll wait for the internet hate machine to turn on me.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

Translated from corporatese: "Worship us enough and maybe we'll send our precious sacks of moneyz to the inferior sweatshop workers in Japan".

Why is it so hard to just PART with your money?! It's not like you're using it for anything good in the gaming industry anyway, you selfish corporate shits.

 

[VondeVon]

Wow. I'm kinda shocked that so many people are outraged. It didn't seem like a PR stunt at all to me - just a genuine way for everyone to benefit. They get their Likes up, Japan gets more funding and we get to feel like we've contributed without actually, you know, opening our wallets.

Besides, it's not like you can't just un-like them afterward.

Geeze, people... chill.

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

But then, plenty of companies have done this sort of thing as advertising. While this is a bit tasteless and cheesy, it isn't original.

Plenty of companies HAVE done this sort of thing as advertising; and it bit THEM in the ass, too. Like the company that started selling some in-game items with claims of "it's for charity", but anyone who looked into it noticed that they were only donating 10% of the profits. The aftermath was not in the company's favor.

It is lame, no denying. I don't think it was malicious, but indeed lame.

Intentionally malicious? Perhaps, perhaps not. However, regardless of intend, wrong is wrong. If I run someone over with my car, it doesn't matter if I did it on purpose or on accident, I still have severe penalties I have to face. So it doesn't matter if they're being intentionally malicious or not. I, and I'm sure many other people, are still picturing them sitting around the meeting room with the CEO saying "Okay, we have some money we can throw Japan's way, but how can we make sure that we benefit from this somehow?"

I mean, honestly now. Tens-of-thousands of people could end-up dead from this, not to mention the very high chance of a nuclear disaster (that could effect more than just Japan)... and this company is holding charity money for ransom until they get some "Likes" on Facebook? Utterly ridiculous.

 

[EnzoHonda]

People in this thread are being ridiculous. There's no "scratch my back, I'll scratch your's" or "charity hostage taking" going on. They are trying to donate $25,000, spread awareness about the need to donate, and get some exposure for their company.

And all they are asking is for people to do is click their fucking mouse once.

They're not asking for any money. Seriously, writing this post took longer than what they're asking people to do.

 

[Saelune]

What!? Organizations have done this before, why freak out now? One of those yogerts gives portions of funds for charity for every yogurt top sent in. Thats THE SAME THING.
They are not doing anything wrng or selfish. Hell, they were just trying to get attention to the needs of Japan. This tway they try to get people to actively do something, and possibly tell others so they can help.

 

[mechanixis]

I mean...wow. I guess I can see the marketing thought-process that led up to this, but it's made some pretty base miscalculations. By saying "We have the money right here, and we're willing to donate it...if you do something for our benefit first," they've basically elevated it to a hostage situation. They're holding $25,000 worth of the Japanese relief effort hostage until they get a free marketing boost.

Except that isn't at all what's happening, isn't what was said, isn't what was implied, and isn't an accurate descriptor of the awareness/fundraising campaign. As has been explained. Repeatedly. Exhaustively.

How is it not what's happening? "Likes" are advertising, something that they'd otherwise have to pay for. They're asking for a free service. If they wanted to raise awareness of the relief effort, they'd have people liking their links to the relief effort, not their company itself. You seem to think that Mastiff getting likes is meant to raise awareness of something other than Mastiff.

And more importantly, if they really cared as much as you seem to think, they wouldn't be tying that number to how much of their donation money they would actually send. They would just send as much as they could. They have the money and have said they're willing to donate it; why is it suddenly my responsibility to bribe them into giving it to a good cause? Mastiff needs to own up and give what they declared they would give, without the palm-greasing.

But go ahead and do it the easy way, I guess: give them whatever the hell they want first. I guess you're way too busy being right somewhere else to explain what the hell you're even talking about, so whatever. I guess when you say "repeatedly" and "exhaustively" you mean in those one or two unconvincing posts you made earlier in the thread.

 

[Axelhander]

This is getting old, and more importantly, it seems cooler, more intelligent heads ARE prevailing, both here and on FaceBook, drowning out the opposition even moreso than said opposition's wholly invalid claims. So I'm going to make this brief and in lovingly point form, as completely destroying yet another poster isn't really my MO (even though it's about to happen, and with almost depressing ease):

How is it not what's happening? "Likes" are advertising, something that they'd otherwise have to pay for. They're asking for a free service. If they wanted to raise awareness of the relief effort, they'd have people liking their links to the relief effort, not their company itself. You seem to think that Mastiff getting likes is meant to raise awareness of something other than Mastiff.

- Nobody has to pay for Likes.
- Advertising is not necessarily something that costs money.
- Asking for Likes is as much a "service" as Street Fighter 2 has 4 punch and kick buttons.
- Mastiff is raising awareness for something other than Mastiff (the relief effort), regardless of whatever attention Mastiff is drawing to itself.

And more importantly, if they really cared as much as you seem to think, they wouldn't be tying that number to how much of their donation money they would actually send. They would just send as much as they could. They have the money and have said they're willing to donate it; why is it suddenly my responsibility to bribe them into giving it to a good cause? Mastiff needs to own up and give what they declared they would give, without the palm-greasing.

- Strawman fallacy is not the way to win an argument.
- Their practices are not any more or less shady than any other company saying "for every X you buy/click/whatever, we'll donate Y to Z."
- They're asking something of you that will cost you nothing but far less time than it took you to make this logical fallacy-ridden post.
- Mastiff is doing exactly what they declared.

But go ahead and do it the easy way, I guess: give them whatever the hell they want first. I guess you're way too busy being right somewhere else to explain what the hell you're even talking about, so whatever. I guess when you say "repeatedly" and "exhaustively" you mean in those one or two unconvincing posts you made earlier in the thread.

- I stated facts, earlier and now. You cannot be "unconvinced" of facts.
- Mastiff wants FB Likes. That's it.
- It's also "easy" to donate my own money outside of Mastiff's promotion. Using PayPal isn't difficult.
- You need to very carefully inspect this list [http://www.theskepticsguide.org/resources/logicalfallacies.aspx]. Specifically "Slippery Slope."
- It's too bad I had to add 2 people to my Ignore list this soon into my Escapist forum adventures, but I see most people here are on the level.
- Good night, and good bye.