This semester two things most college students are obsessed with have finally come together: Facebook and free food.

In a novel advertising experiment, Campusfood.com has launched the Facebook application Food Friendzy, which allows users to play a scratch-off-type matching game to win money – or possibly a Nintendo Wii – for themselves and their Facebook friends to use on the popular food-delivery website. The money expires after three days.

The application is receiving mixed reviews from students. But since it went live at the beginning of the semester, almost 53,000 people nationwide have added Food Friendzy to their Facebook accounts, about half of whom use it daily.

“I heard you could pay for whole meals with it, and that’s why I got it,” said freshman psychology major Alex Loreck.

Michael Saunders, president of Campusfood.com, said the company started developing Food Friendzy as soon as Facebook created the applications platform.

Saunders said the company had discussions about allowing members to order food straight from the Facebook website, but abandoned the idea in favor of the Food Friendzy game playing concept.

“Facebook is all about having fun; it’s not about ordering,” he said. “We thought a game would be perfect, and we wanted a game that would kind of embody who we are as a company.”

So how can Campusfood.com afford to fulfill every college student’s wildest epicurian dreams?

“Giving away the cash is basically in lieu of marketing,” Saunders said.

The company diverted money it would have spent on newspaper or website advertising to the game. So far, users have won about $230,000, though Saunders says users don’t cash in all the money they win.

What Campusfood.com gets out of it is the “viral, word-of-mouth advertising,” said marketing professor Rosellina Ferraro. “It’s a good way to draw people to go to their website, especially people who have never been there, and that’s a step closer to getting people to buy from them.”

Facebook members benefit by convincing their friends to add the application. Each round of the game – users are limited to five per day – is played “against” a friend, and the winnings from that round are credited to both parties. But users can only play each friend once each week, giving them an incentive to get other friends to join.

Loreck told his friend, Ben Weiner, about the application and the freshman economics major added it, too.

“Initially, I thought it was stupid, but then I saw people were winning lots of money from it, and I added it,” he said.

Often, though, students say it is hard to win enough money to get free food.

“I got really excited [about Food Friendzy]” said freshman public health major Nicole Silva. “I’m blown over the fact that I can’t save the money; I’d like to save the stuff I win over two weeks and then order D.P. Dough.” Silva said she will probably remove the application soon.

Freshman environmental science major Randy Mintz used the $4 he won on Food Friendzy to pay for half of a D.P. Dough calzone. Mintz said he wonders, “Am I really hungry enough that it’s worth it? Or could I be spending my money more wisely?”

Ferraro says this is one of the key points of the application. “It’s designed to get people to buy more, and this is an incentive to do this,” she said. “[Campusfood.com] is smart in trying to use Facebook.”

Loreck and Weiner, though, have all but dismissed the application.

“It’s kinda pointless,” Loreck said.

“Yeah,” agreed Weiner. “They take money away. It’s hard to use. It’s useless.”

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