Take This Lollipop Demos the Horror of Cyberstalking

Facebook privacy is an oxymoron. The site is designed to reveal your personal information to the rest of the world. Where you live. Where you went to school. Your favorite stores and music. For friends, it’s a source of conversation. For marketers, it’s a way to target potential customers and for stalkers, it’s like giving the alarm code for Tiffany’s to a jewel thief.

Not worried? You might have a different view after you check out “Take This Lollipop.” The interactive website lets you look over the shoulder of a very creepy, cyberstalker as he peruses your Facebook profile. At first it’s not that unusual. Dozens of websites, like the one for the new movie The Thing, use your profile data to populate their online world. But when the stalker looks up your address on Google maps then jumps in the car and drives off, fake or not, it had me checking the locks on my door.

I first read about the site at Fast Company and I must admit, I wasn’t not totally sure of its purpose. Is it a teaser for a new movie? A cautionary tale about internet privacy? Turns out it’s just a “fun side project” from director Jason Zada. Zada is also the man behind the brilliant “Elf Yourself” campaign for Office Max, so we know he has a wicked sense of humor.

So “Take This Lollipop” isn’t an ad, but it could be. It’s gripping, it has great viral potential and it sticks with you after you close the window (though hopefully, not literally.) Right now, it’s entertaining in a “gotta look even though I’m going to be sorry” kind of way. It’s not gruesome, but it doesn’t have to be because it’s a realistic scenario that’s more horrifying than any vampire ever could ever be.

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As of this afternoon, less than 24 hours after launch, 207,524 have “liked” TakeThisLollipop.com on Facebook. The numbers will likely double before Halloween.

Not an ad? What a shame, because that is one powerful, interactive, social media workout.