Facebook "Likes" for Japanese Relief Offer Sparks Outrage

[Oliver Pink]

Hmm...

*Scratches chin*

They've Already given money to help out...

And they're offering to give More if people rally behind them.

Why is that such a big problem? I've no issue with these guys.

 

[Birthe]

It seems a bit weird and I mean for them it's clearly not for the charity alone, but then is it really that different from other facebook games saying if you buy this or that item in the game we offer some money to Japan

 

[Mouse_Crouse]

I don't understand this, Blizzard donates half of the proceeds for the Pandarin Monk vanity pet. And no one is upset about that. Countless food companies donate for the ammount of box tops or yogurt caps or other random item that had to have been purchased. No one has been complaining about that for YEARS. Why now, is donating to the breast cancer foundation a less noble cause then the disaster relief, why is this anymore despicable?

 

[EllEzDee]

Wow they make some shitty games.

 

[Sanglyon]

Well, I don't have a facebook account, but if I had, I'll click this "Like" button anytime. Because unlike those who complains in a knee-jerk reaction I actually know how to read, and when I do read an article, I read it until the end.

first, they already gave money. Maybe they should have said it clearly, but someone would still have been "outraged" at how they use the tragedy to "brag" about how charitable they are.

second, this money they pledge to give as a bonus for "Like", I don't think they have it just lying around. Remember, they already gave what they could spare. It's money they would have had to spend on advertissement later, that they could spare only if they found another way of raising awareness about themselves in a cost-free way. Such as this pledge.

So, this "outrage" is about a company which already gave what they could, and dared ask people to help them lower their advertisment cost so they could spare some more to give.

 

[Randomologist]

Subtle as a brick. I think they'd have been better to say something like "for every like we get, we donate $1 to Japanese aid, up to 25k". Still not particularly subtle, but removes the impression of ransoming the intended aid.

 

[Kebabco]

Is it the for-profit motive that pisses people off? Like posters said before, someone is always profiting from a disaster. How anyone who didnt donate any money AT ALL, criticize other people on how they spent their money. Them giving aid to the people of Japan, even if its with conditions, is morally always infinitely better than doing nothing.

 

[DTWolfwood]

really ppl? just like them so they can get more money out to japan. Why the fuck does it matter if you Like something on facebook? Once they hit the $25K mark you can always UNLIKE them.

bunch of whinny ass kids bitching about something so insignificant. going there to like them right now...if i could find their facebook page that is...

 

[ReiverCorrupter]

I saw:

Pledge to donate $25000.

SMILE LOL

After "only if it receives likes".

WTF DUDE YOU ARE THE WORST SCUM EVER

Seriously, they will be charitable... IF they get something for it? That's not just dumb, it's just mind-boggling.

I see we aren't very good at being literate. They've already donated a lot: the $25000 is an additional donation. The whole idea is to give people a sense of agency by letting them feel like they're helping by pressing a like button on Facebook. I've seen this type of thing a lot, and I don't have any problem with it. Read the whole article.

 

[Enrathi]

I don't see what the big deal is. As has been pointed out repeatedly, "part of proceed" charity donations have been going on for years and those actually require you to purchase something. Plus both the company and the CEO have already donated to the relief fund as well as linked a list of charities in the letter for those that would like to donate directly.

They aren't holding donation money hostage, they aren't demanding you purchase anything, all they ask is you take two seconds to click Like. And if you really don't want to be notified about their games, unlike them after the donation is made. I see absolutely nothing wrong with it and in fact went and Liked them after I read the article.

EDIT: Typos.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Profiteering from human tragedy is one of the lowest acts a company can engage in, and while I'm certain Mastiff didn't intend to do so, the phrasing of their campaign sort of gives off that feeling if you look at it with a critical (or, some might say, cynical) eye. "We've got twenty-five grand sitting right here that we COULD send off to Japan, but it's not going anywhere unless more people publicize us!" It's not what they're saying, but it can be seen that way, and everything good they've done gets washed out in the glare of that.

Perception is a huge thing, especially in events like this, and you have to plan for large quantities of cynicism on the Internet.

 

[Carlston]

Ahh open mouth insert foot.

Reality, they wanted to get their FB out there and all...

I mean now they have no chose but to throw out the 25k...

Should have been this. "X games is giving 25,000 to the Japan relief fund." please like and send to your friends messages of support."

Would have gotten the likes, the hits and well... not got in the D-bag award running for this year.

 

[Arsen]

Nothing wrong with this whatsoever. Are they gaining publicity? Yes. But numerous corporations, sponsors, etc...have done similar things in the past. At least they'll receive recognition for it in the end.

I can't believe everything is giving them a hard time about this on this board. It's not immoral on any level.

 

[thedeathscythe]

I don't think anybody read the entire entry. They got about half way into it, and then started typing their comments. If you read on, it says that in the same letter where he says all that stuff about the liking their post and them donating money, he also gave links to a bunch of other good charities if you want to donate directly. I don't think someone trying to just get likes and hiding themselves behind a charity would do that. Out of everyone who got angry at them, who has actually put up any money themselves?

 

[Dexiro]

The intentions aren't bad, it's just an incredibly badly thought out publicity stunt.

Maybe popularity is somewhat equivalent to people donating, afterall people pay tons of money for marketing and see a huge return. What they hadn't considered is how they're valuing Facebook likes over people's well-being and even their lives in a state of crisis.

 

[KalosCast]

The intentions aren't bad, it's just an incredibly badly thought out publicity stunt.

Maybe popularity is somewhat equivalent to people donating, afterall people pay tons of money for marketing and see a huge return. What they hadn't considered is how they're valuing Facebook likes over people's well-being and even their lives in a state of crisis.

Which is why they provided links for people to donate directly, already made an official donation, the company leader made a personal donation, and they offered and easy way for people to get involved.

What have you done to help out the people in this crisis?

 

[Plucky]

It's wrong to stir up publicity for their own company, using the terror of a crisis of others for their own gain, Mastiff owes alot to Japan, they're a game developer and they're also a translator too (only Mastiff game i played was Gurumin, a Japanese title in origin) and alot of their employees are probally gamers at heart, i mean who hasn't played Super Mario Bros.?

Sure, it would be lopsided for them to be forced to fork over money to help Japan by using a small reason like being gamers, but they should do it willingly, not by rallying up 'likes' on some site just to trickle in a comparatively low amount of money in comparison to the buisness theyre attracting, not to menction giving themselves a bad image in latching onto a tragedy like that.

Anyone else aggree?

 

[Distortionfile]

On the surface, this was a terrible idea. But at it's core, I blame facebook itself and what it has done to society. Facebook needs a "dislike" feature. It needs to stop existing, but that wont happen any time soon, so at the very least, it needs to offer a voice to opposing forces.

The bottom line for this particular campaign is that they should have relied on the way we've done things for hundreds of years now. You do something good, you tell people you did it, then you hope they will "like" you for it. I'm personally getting sick of being asked to 'like' or 'follow' every food I eat, every product I purchase, every sign for a company I see on the road.
The idea is supposed to be "let the public fashion public opinion" but in finality it's just a useless worthless gimmick that means nothing. Oh, and the "like" buttons are slowing down every damn website they're on, and I'm tired of "waiting for facebook" when I don't even have an account with them.

If you 'like' this post then 'retweet' it and I'll 'friend request' you in hell.

 

[Dexiro]

The intentions aren't bad, it's just an incredibly badly thought out publicity stunt.

Maybe popularity is somewhat equivalent to people donating, afterall people pay tons of money for marketing and see a huge return. What they hadn't considered is how they're valuing Facebook likes over people's well-being and even their lives in a state of crisis.

Which is why they provided links for people to donate directly, already made an official donation, the company leader made a personal donation, and they offered and easy way for people to get involved.

What have you done to help out the people in this crisis?

I've thought it through a bit more since. Technically they're not doing anything different from what charities do all the time; "Show your support by doing X and we'll make a donation". I think the rage has just sparked because people asking to be "liked" or "friended" on Facebook is bloody annoying. I never had anything against them personally, I was just trying to deduce where the rage had come from.

And as much as I'd like to donate, I'm just a student and literally have no money. If anyone else is making similar offers to Mastiff then I might participate, but Facebook in particular really isn't my cup of tea.