The past few years in Washington D.C. have been eventful, to say the least. With so many eyebrow-raising moments, it’s hard to imagine that the commander in chief can keep topping himself and yet, here we are. In this weeks That’s “Not” Baller news, we have the nation’s leader, Donald Trump, spending $1 million buying Facebook ads so you can wish him a happy 73rd birthday this Friday.
According to Vice News, there have been thousands of ads placed from the Donald Trump Facebook page in the past few months, prompting users to sign a digital card wishing the President a happy birthday. To attract interested parties, the language in the ads suggests that Trump will personally view each signature on the card, which is highly unlikely and misleading. In spite of how vain the optics appear, it seems as if the Trump administration is using social networks as a means to gather voter data for his 2020 re-election campaign. In order to enter the signature, users have to click through data collection pages where their contact information is being requested. From a strategic perspective, you could say this was a good approach to get significant data and support from Trump’s base of supporters. If you are a Trump supporter, you may have seen ads saying, “HURRY! President Trump’s birthday is TOMORROW!” “He’ll read the name of every supporter who signs his card when we present it to him on his birthday. Will he see your name?” or even mass text message reminders from his sons, Eric and Donald Jr.
In spite of the unique marketing and data collection efforts, if you find this appalling don’t just get mad in the comments. Make sure you are registered to vote, encourage others to and get to the polls. It’s not enough to be fake outraged online if you aren’t willing to do anything about in real life.
