Facebook to lift ban on promotion of dairy products
Nathan Phelps // Green Bay Press-GazetteDecember 12, 2009
Guns, dairy and prescription drugs. They're not often in the same category.
But the promotion of dairy products - along with firearms, cigarettes, gambling, tobacco, prescription dugs and gasoline - was banned on Facebook.
"When you looked at the list of products they have banned, it just didn't make any sense," said Patrick Geoghegan, senior vice president of corporate communications with the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board in Madison. "So we poked around and were later told they took dairy off the list."
He didn't know why dairy was on the list to start with.
The policy apparently wasn't enforced by Facebook; the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board says it has been using Facebook to connect with consumers unhindered.
And it's been effective, Geoghegan said, including micro sites like www.cheesecupid.com (7,134 fans) and the www.cheeseandburger society.com (58,114 fans) which also have a presence on Facebook.
"It's a great way to network with consumers who have similar interests," Geoghegan said.
Dairy is no small matter in Wisconsin, where the industry is a $26 billion proposition.
The policy issue surfaced Friday when the Center for Consumer Freedom sent out a newsrelease expressing its "puzzlement and disbelief" over the soon-to-be defunct policy.
"Why would anyone lump milk with cigarettes and prescription pain-killers?" Center for Consumer Freedom Research Director David Martosko stated in the release.
Facebook says the provision will be lifted and was put in place to satisfy some state laws that imposed penalties for distributing dairy at a discounted rate.
"We're all big fans of strong bones at Facebook, and we will soon revise our promotions guidelines to lift the complete ban on dairy and simply prohibit giving dairy away as a prize," Andrew Noyles, manager of Public Policy Communications at Facebook, stated in an e-mail Friday afternoon.
Richard Berman has been a regular front man for business and industry in campaigns against consumer safety and environmental groups. Through his public affairs firm, Berman and Company, Berman has fought unions, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, PETA and other watchdog groups in their efforts to raise awareness about obesity, the minimum wage, the dangers of smoking, mad cow disease, drunk driving, and other causes. Berman runs at least 15 industry-funded front groups and projects, such as the Center for Union Facts and holds 16 "positions" in those organizations.
Each year, Berman, using his front groups to spread misinformation, spends millions of dollars distracting the public with misleading ads.
As a result of his largesse, in 2006, Richard Berman used $2,000,000 in cash to buy this $3.3 million house.
