Gambling, guns, tobacco and ... milk? Facebook bans the promotion of all four, but a food industry group says it should ease up on the one that comes out of cows and gives you healthy bones.
The Center for Consumer Freedom, a Washington-based group supported by restaurants and food companies, said Friday dairy shouldn't be lumped together with cigarettes and prescription painkillers when it comes to banning their promotions on the site.
Facebook says it's not lactose intolerant, but there are laws prohibiting giving dairy away as a prize. Its guidelines, which are periodically updated and will be again to clarify the milk issue, seek to reflect "state laws that impose penalties for distributing dairy at a discounted rate," said Andrew Noyes, manager of public policy communications at Facebook.
"We're all big fans of strong bones at Facebook and we will soon revise our promotions guidelines to lift the complete ban on dairy and simply prohibit giving dairy away as a prize," he said in an e-mail statement.
When it comes down to it, Facebook can ban whatever they want, but in the dairy case they are simply trying to contend with varying state laws, said Andy Lustigman, a New York attorney specializing in advertising and promotional marketing.
Gasoline giveaways are banned for the same reason.