Facebook signs Beijing lease and viral appetite for Rainbow Whoppers
In Social Media news this week, Facebook leases office space in Beijing and the weekly viral video finds us hungry for some rainbow-covered Proud Whoppers.
In this weeks Social Media wrap, Facebook looks set to tackle the Chinese Market. The weekly viral video finds us hungry for some rainbow-covered Proud Whoppers. The guys behind the ever-popular Emoji graphics plan to launch an Emoji only App. Meanwhile The Pentagon has been spying on Social Media users.
Facebook Leases Offices in China
In what is presumed as another step to open Facebook to the Chinese market, Facebook has reportedly found and signed a 3-year lease to an 800 square metre office space in Beijing. The social media site has been banned by the Great Fire Wall of China since 2009 preventing Facebook from continuing it’s growing monopoly around the world. Leasing offices in China can be assumed as a way to continue to grow their international market share. Operating from China, it would be presumed that Facebook would have to follow domestic censorship laws.
Viral Video of the Week: Burger King Proud Whopper
In this weeks viral video fast food restaurant Burger King (domestically known as Hungry Jack’s) makes a strong political statement by releasing a limited ‘Proud Whopper’ to coincide with San Francisco’s Annual Gay Pride. The video shows customers reaction to the locally released burger and their determinations as to how it tastes differently to the original Whopper. With a surprise twist found on the burgers rainbow paper wrapping “We are all the same inside” the fast-food chains real intentions are revealed. The campaign is very reminiscent of Oreo’s 2012 viral Rainbow cookie.
Why did it go viral? A few things:
It deals with a controversial topic. Nothing gets people talking like a heated topic, especially one about gay pride and equality.
Strong positive Twist. The emotional message of the ad, ‘We are all the same inside’ is great hook for viewers to relate, contemplate and share.
Filming Real People. Including, interviewing and ‘spying’ on real people brings a sense of legitimacy to the video without being too heavy on the Burger King branding.
Also in the news
Following on from last weeks news that emoji are releasing another 250 graphics, news has emerged that they are now launching their very own App. Creators of the App titled Emojli released a video statement describing that “Social networks are broken with spam, trolls, memes and hashtags” but this new App promises to bypass all the “spam” by solely sending emoji’s. To top it off, usernames are also restricted to one or two emoji’s meaning that the App is currently restricted to 250 thousand users. Time will tell whether it is an elaborate publicity stunt or a future step to broaden the use of the graphics.
Pentagon spies on Social Media users
Just two weeks after it was revealed that Facebook underwent questionable secret psychology research with 700 thousand users, the USA defence agency, The Pentagon has admitted to compiling research into how the world uses and engages with Social Media. Releasing a statement discussing Lady Gaga and Bieber’s global Twitter influence and how Social Media is shaping every corner of the globe, there are no details as to how in-depth and targeted their research has been. Beware ‘LittleMonsters’ and ‘Beliebers’ The Pentagon is watching you…
And on that note, see you next week for another Social Media Wrap!
