February 28, 2008

Mars using Facebook & SMS for candy bar gift-giving

Facebook apps that allow users to give each other virtual gifts is not a new concept, things like flowers and even hot pretzels can be exchanged between friends. The Light Agency has now expanded on that idea with a Mars-branded widget that makes it possible to send real candy. The program is called "Celebrate." It was launched on Valentine's Day (smart), and it allows UK users of Facebook to choose from a range of Mars confectionery gifts from the Celebrate Sweet Shop online. Users select a friend, add a message and pay for the gift via PayPal tokens. The recipient gets a message requesting their mobile number. Then a Celebrate Voucher ID and gift details are sent to the recipient via text message. To get their gift, the recipient goes to one of 12,500+ PayPoint retailers and shows the Celebrate Voucher ID. Pretty slick if we do say so ourselves.