technology

Webroot 'Drunk Facebooking' Effort Takes Off

Sobriety Test

First there was drunk dialing. Now, Webroot wants to prevent you from drunk Facebooking via a social media campaign that's quickly catching on virally.

The Internet-security company -- which recently launched its first advertising campaign that banks on consumers' not wanting to know how their Internet security works, just that it does -- has launched a Web application that, when downloaded, will prevent people from posting to their social network pages while impaired.

"Our business is about protecting businesses and consumers from online threats, and the question came up, 'How can we protect consumers from themselves?," Webroot chief marketing officer Chris Benham tells Marketing Daily. "It's based on the same idea [as other inebriation tests]. We thought we'd do it in a lighthearted way."

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The initiative is a freeware browser extension available at www.socialmediasobrietytest.com, that allows users to restrict their own access to social media sites including Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and Tumblr (as well as web-based e-mail accounts) during hours specified by the user. Once enabled, the app -- created and executed by Webroot's agency, TDA in Boulder, Colo. -- requires a user to pass a randomly selected sobriety test, such as dragging one's mouse in a straight line, before logging on to one of those sites. If you fail the test, the app will post an update stating the user was too impaired to use the site.

Though that latter function can be disabled, Benham says it has become a bit of a badge of honor for Millennials. "With the younger crowd, if that posting doesn't appear four or five times, that's considered an unsuccessful weekend," he says.

Launched only last week, the app has taken off around the world. Benham says he's had inquiries about it from New Zealand and Europe, and Jimmy Fallon mentioned it on his show earlier this week. Webroot also had to put a link on its own site to the social media sobriety test microsite because so many people were looking for it.

"We spent a small of money to get it out there, and it's taken off," he says. Whether all of the viral buzz will translate into sales for Webroot, which is much less well-known than competitors such as Norton and Macafee, remains to be seen. "It's getting our name out there," Benham says. "As to whether it ties directly into sales, it's hard to say."

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