When a Facebook app doesn't work, try lube
Event-planning site Going.com created Naughty Gifts for the Facebook platform last summer, hoping the app would bring traffic to the site. But instead, a lot of users have come and gone. The company says Naughty Gifts has gathered 4 million Facebook users, predictably including my boss. [Ed.'s note: Come see me in my office, Carlson.] Going.com, however, hasn't seen a commensurate benefit from all that attention, with less than 250,000 monthly visitors according to Compete.com. So what's a startup to do?
Throw a boozefest for hormone-wracked college students and give away actual naughty gifts, of course.
"We want our users back," a company flack told me last night at Webster Hall, just off Union Square, where the dirty went down. Did it work? Too early to tell, but I can attest: the goody bag was all sorts of bad. In the good way.
- One t-shirt featuring an image of an escalator and the words Going and down. Witty.
- One Good Vibrations pearl drop vibrator and requisite AA battery.
- One Good Lubrications personal lubricant, net volume 0.1 fluid ounces — so it's safe to take through airport security!
- One classic Good Vibrations condom.
- And finally, one pair of panties which read, "Coming ... and Going." Also witty.
Just one question: What will advertisers like Southwest Airlines think of a naughty stunt like this? Will it help Going.com land more ad dollars — or send them, greased with lube, right off the runway?