Posted on Thu, Apr 05, 2012
By Clio V. Rourke | @ cvrourke
When employers first requested that job applicants disclose their Facebook logins, they did so based on the premise that an applicant’s Facebook profile accurately represents an applicant’s personality. And when Pepsi recently created a consumer test program for its new low-calorie product Pepsi Next, the company based the program on the premise that a consumer’s Facebook profile can predict how much he or she will like the soft drink – “without opening a can.” Black marketing magic? Big brother alarm? It’s far less serious (though still a little creepy). On the Pepsi Next Facebook page, Facebook users can apply to participate in Pepsi’s Internet Taste Test. Since even Facebook doesn’t have a taste app yet, the selected applicants are then being represented by their “improv self” – comedians from Pepsi’s partner Funny or Die. Using the information found on the applicant’s Facebook profile, a comedian impersonates him or her and acts out the most likely – and probably most funny – reaction to the taste of Pepsi Next. A video of the performance is posted on the Pepsi Next Facebook page and YouTube. So why is this still a little creepy? “We’ll analyze [the applicant’s] Facebook persona,” said PepsiCo Beverages’ Head of Digital Shiv Singh, according to Mashable. “It will be very close to who they actually are.” Will you try it?