So one day, against your better judgement you accepted the tasty chimichanga.  You were no longer hungry, having already consumed three and now were eating purely because they tasted marvelous.  Upon returning home later that evening with your belly in agony, you reached for the Pepto-Bismol and called it a day.

In the morning, grateful to the good folks at Pepto-Bismol, you “Liked” the Pepto-Bismol page on Facebook.  A simple gesture, but the least you could do to show your thankfulness for the previous evening.   Wary of your friends jokes, and not wanting all your friends to know that you spent the evening near the bathroom, you delete the update on your Facebook Wall that shows you as becoming a Fan of the page.  So now your Fan-ship of Pepto-Bismol is your perfect little secret. No one will know besides you and the friendly admins of the Pepto-Bismol page, right?

Wrong.  As one of Facebook’s newest advertising options called Social Targeting, companies advertising on Facebook may choose to advertise to friends of Fans on any page.  That means, guess what?, anybody, including your comedic best friend or relative may be greeted with an Ad that looks like this:

(Above: I REALLY wanted my friends to know I was a fan of Pepto-Bismol...)

How embarrasing right, your name shows up to your friends as a part of the advertising, a type of word of mouth in favor of Pepto-Bismol.  Don’t worry though, you agreed to this in the updated Privacy Policy, you did read that right?

But Im not necessarily complaining about this feature.  I as a Facebook advertiser find Social Targeting very successful.  Read a Facebook Advertising Agency Perspective on Social Targeting.

So in summary, think twice of what you ‘Like’ on Facebook as advertisers like me may share some of your perfect little secrets.

(Above: You may not be the only one that knows if you click that "Like" button)

See the Advertisers take on Social Targeting on Facebook Ads

Pepto-Bismol Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/peptobismol