In April Budweiser and Facebook announced that they had teamed up to produce the Budweiser Buddy Cup. When you clink glasses using buddy cups, you instantly become friends on Facebook. I thought it was an April Fools gag. Perhaps I’m getting old or paranoid, but …really? Does anyone think this is a good idea?
Aside from the obvious, you’re drinking so you’re probably not at you’re most discerning…did anyone read the rules about not making friends on Facebook with people you don’t know? Then of course there’s going to the washroom. This is an opportunity for at least a couple of strange things to happen, like you’re friends who are as discerning as anyone after a few drinks decide to make friends for you. Or what about that weird guy at the corner table, you know the guy, you’ve been trying to avoid him all night. He decides to clink your glass when you’re not looking and voila, you have a new creepy friend.
I like a marketing gimmick as much as anyone does and really, what’s the worst that can happen right? Hmmm…cue dream sequence…
It’s the morning after the night before. You’re 21 and waking up to the world’s worst headache. You hurt, but boy you had fun last night. You’re half way through breakfast and reminiscing about the night before when you realize you don’t see your Budweiser buddy glass anywhere. You remember laughing and clinking and drinking and clinking and dancing and clinking, and so on, and so on, but where’s the cup?
No biggee right? What’s the worst that can happen? Later that day you’re online and decide to pop onto your Facebook account to see how your friends survived their night at the festival. You’re first indication that something isn’t quite right are all the posts from people you don’t know. Ah yes, the buddy glass. No big deal, their probably great folks and you already know you have some similar interests because you were all at the same festival, right? Then the tagged photos from your night before start popping up.
Who is that guy you’re singing with? What exactly is that couple doing in that photo? Why are you laughing and pointing at them? Is that your friend? What on earth is she doing with that sausage? You’re both fascinated and horrified by the images. Did your mom see these? Did your boss?You’re so preoccupied with them that it takes you a full ten minutes before you realize you have 367 new friends.
No matter how you slice it, Facebook and alcohol are a dumb blend. Don’t drink and friend.
I hadn’t heard of this. I like what you said “don’t drink and friend”. Def a bad idea.
I’m hoping its an idea that will disappear once they put it into play or hopefully before then.
I thought these glasses had gone away due to poor planning not too long ago. These really are a public relations nightmare waiting to happen.
The last I heard they were testing them in Brazil during the festivals, but I have to think someone somewhere in the chain of command has thought…what the heck are we doing?
I haven’t heard of this drink and friend thing, Debra – i guess i wasn’t in their target audience 😀 But it’s the worst idea ever, definitely! (Cool fact – your poll says 100% NO to the idea, too 😉
It reminds me a bit of high-school/college years (maybe all girls can relate) – you have a crush, you contemplate all day long whether to call him or not, evening comes, you have a few drinks, you become brave and all – and voila, 135 text messages (each one more embarrassing), sent from your phone. What-what? 🙂
I second this – don’t drink and fiend!
I burst out laughing when I read your comment. Clearly the buddy cups triggered some old memories for me too. All I can say is, nothing good ever came from alcohol consumption and communications technology.
As for the poll, after my rant, I think it’s fair to say it’s biased. 🙂
Bad idea! And could be dangerous too. I’m very wary of what I put on my FB page after a kid was stalked and killed because someone learnt all about his life just by looking at his FB page!
That’s horrible, I had not heard about that. We really have to ask ourselves what we are inviting into our homes and lives. Our children are especially vulnerable because they have grown up in world where everything is on display.
I think my last comment disappeared!! I am not a fan of such things, I don’t think these people will really be your friends. And that is part of the reason I think FB will die in the end. As well as the mindless drivel that is on there. But I am digressing. Google+ looks like a better place and they seem to be catching FB.
My son recently untagged himself from all images and I’ve started doing the same. If I don’t post it myself on Facebook, I remove the tag. It’s funny, Google+ was so slow starting that it became the butt of many jokes. I have to admit, I spend more time on Google+ than I do on Facebook but I thought it was just me.
hmmmmm, nice to make friends easily, but then are they really friends? I must say most of my friends are not plastering pics of us all on FB which is great. In fact some are deleting their accounts due to the constant drivel. Times change.
In the past week I read that the average Facebook user has 300 friends, and that some study showed that 150 is the maximum most people can really effectively interact with… I try not to “friend” people left and right on Facebook, but Twitter is another beast in that regard. Mixing alcohol consumption with social networking just strikes me as a really bad idea. Friending too often feels like a numbers game, rather than a way to make true connections.
I couldn’t agree more. I’m under 150 friends on Facebook myself, for exactly that reason. I know a lot of people, I have tons of business acquaintances, but they are not all friends and so they don’t all belong on Facebook. Twitter and LinkedIn are where I get to know people, but even there I wouldn’t drink and link. 🙂
I agree with you Debra DONT DRINK AND FRIEND.
Isn’t it odd that, that has to be said? 🙂
I’m glad the first two comments agree with your assessment!
Would make for an interesting exchange even if they didn’t 🙂 I am curious to know if I’m just really conservative about these things.
This has to be the worst idea ever! Making “friends” while drinking is never a good idea lol. Can you imagine the weirdos trying to clink glasses with all the pretty girls? Everyone would have to remember to log in the next morning and start unfriending!
It’s so funny, it turns an innocuous celebratory activity, clinking glasses, into a decision making process. It’s an idea that would be great among friends…but then you’d already be friends. 🙂
Love it. Let’s coin a phrase “Don’t Drink and Befriend it could Kill your your reputation”.
First off, I would only have that glass or cup (if I had it at all) at home, probably under lock and key, to use when I had friends or family over. Um… maybe not. Better yet I would pound on it with a hammer until it was in little tiny pieces. Place the pieces in a box. Plant it under a rock it in the garden. Just saying. Does that mean I’m friends with the hammer, box, rock and the dirt? Just checking… LOL.
I like it! It should be a slogan we post on our Facebook page. A friend of mine equated it with, “Don’t Text Drunk”. Which is one of the many other ways you can tank your reputation without ever leaving home. 🙂