"Social" networking

As I was standing in line today at Subway for my footlong cold-cut trio, I saw a sign that enthusiastically suggested "FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!!!" Thinking back to the many articles & editorials I'd seen about how 'social networking' is the next big advertising stream, I thought about how progressive Subway was being with this hip new campaign. (I never thought they would out-hip Jared... but they did. Wow, that was like a double-pun.) I thought about how savvy their strategy is to slink into the fabric of peoples' Facebook & Twitter pages, sporadically placing carefully crafted suggestions (and probably graphics) regarding being hungry for a sandwich. I thought about how this exploited the current trend in personal media to the fullest, how the boardroom must have smiled & nodded vigorously back at Subway, Inc. headquarters when this was suggested. And then I thought about how utterly STUPID an idea it is.

Who in their right mind would decide to "follow" any company on Twitter?? Isn't that like an invitation saying "hey would you please interrupt my personal time by sending me commercials?" Is there any information from Subway that one would possibly need immediately? I can't remember their lunch menu changing at all in the past 15-20 years. The addition of breakfast sandwiches a couple of weeks ago was adequately covered by local news & radio outlets, thanks to their 4-hour free sandwich + coffee giveaway. (Which I dutifully attended.) What could one possibly gain by granting a sandwich corporation unlimited access to your social networking sites?

And then I realized that they might just be promoting their Twitter feed to get people (like me) fired up, blogging, and unintentionally plugging their products for them. Dang it...