Cereal Day 4

Update for today for our series on #messingwithfacebook — a tribute to that oft neglected segment of the cereal world: hot cereal.

Yes, I still remember every word to the CoCo Wheat theme song.

As a guy who starts most mornings off with oatmeal, hot cereal has a warm place in my heart.

The ads haven’t changed yet! I’m still getting bombarded with underwear ads. There are also a lot of professional ads coming up for people on the move. I think we’re going to need to be bolder.

Suggestions?

Cereal Day 2

The war is on! I’m doing my best to mess with the advertisers on Facebook (#messingwithfacebook) to get them to start posting stuff that I actually care about and take away the racy pictures that currently haunt ads attached to my account. Supposedly Facebook looks at your searches and “likes” to build a proper ad experience for you. But it has done a poor job. So I’m taking matters into my own hands.

I’m posting about cereal. Why? Because cereal is a precious food-like substance for many Americans. And because I’d love to get some coupons from cereal manufacturers (hint hint).

Here is a list of the ads that I have on my Facebook page now:

  • A television company (I won’t tell you which one, but they just lost a major lawsuit…)
  • Match.com
  • A blender

No progress yet, my friends. But my day in the sun will come! I’ll keep you updated.

Oh, and P.S. - to those of you reading to follow my writing career. I’ve got all of my materials together for ACFW. Now I just have to take them to the printer. Keep it in prayer!

Messing With Advertisers One Cereal at a Time

Most of us know that the ads that we see on popular sites like Facebook and Google are supposed to be aimed at us based on our previous searches and “likes”. But I have long been flummoxed by the choices that the computer has made for me.

Flipping to Facebook now I see an ad for ancestry.com and discount underwear. While I wear underwear and have ancestors I don’t recall ever having searched for these things, especially when I’ve been on Facebook. So, why am I getting ad-bombed with these useless ads? The advertisers have been messing with my mind long enough. Quite frankly, I’m sick of it.

Now it’s our turn.

For the rest of the month of September I’m going to post about cereal. Lots of cereal. We’re talking with and without raisins. Healthy, fatty, doesn’t matter. I’m posting about little more than cereal to see what happens. If the ads really are based on my personal preferences then October will be filled with an endless array of cereal ads and no more crotch shots of people wearing briefs (or boxers, thank you very much). 

I want you to join with me! Is there anyone else who is willing to mess with the advertisers? If so, I want to post screenshots of your ads as well as mine and track our progress.

#messingwithfacebook