• The Washington Post, Wednesday, September 3, 2008 10:30 AM

Every time Washington Post writer Rachel Beckman logged into her Facebook home page, an ad showing a bulging stomach would appear with the headline "Muffin Top?" After a while, Beckman began to notice, and she posted the following status update: "Rachel doesn't appreciate her Facebook page telling her that she has a muffin top."

Facebook, for those who don't know, targets advertising based on the information users provide in their profiles. And they provide a lot of information, such as birthday, relationship status, personal habits, and hobbies. As Beckman points out, the basic goal of product advertising is to shame us into buying products, and Facebook, knowing that Beckman was soon to be married, got even more vicious with its product ads. Next came, "Do you want to be a fat bride?" Better learn how to put off the pounds before the big day by going to such-and-such Web site.

So Beckman fought back even harder; she decided to provide feedback on the ad (a new feature offered by Facebook), labeling it "offensive." But still, nothing changed. "I didn't spiral into a body-image crisis, nor did I start to diet," said Beckman. "But there's got to be some kind of psychological toll wrought by so many weight-loss images each week." Soon, the "Muffin Top" ads mysteriously disappeared, presumably for using unacceptable language according to Facebook's advertising guidelines. Meanwhile, now that Beckman is married, she's started receiving ads for pregnancy aids.

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