Inauguration on Facebook smells sleazy...

I saw that a few of my friends had already signed up to attend an event on Facebook called Obama's Inauguration.  When I looked at the event, though, the copy for the event didn't sound like the same voice that has been used for everything else in the campaign... it wasn't very well written.  It sounded more like an email chain letter than something written by a PR professional:

"PLEASE INVITE -- PLEASE take a moment to INVITE your friends!!! ----------->

Say "Attending" if you're looking forward to it, say "Not Attending" If you're not looking forward to it, and "Maybe Attending" if you don't care. No matter what you actually RSVP, you aren't obligated to show up anywhere or do anything.

**Organize road-trips with Facebook's Carpool for Change application:
http://apps.facebook.com/carpool/index.php?ref=OBAMA

INVITE your friends!!! ---------------------->

SHOW YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR BARACK:
1,000 supporters (11/4 complete)
10,000 supporters (11/5 complete)
100,000 supporters (11/6 complete)
1,000,000 supporters
10,000,000 supporters
100,000,000 - lets show the world how much we care!

INVITE NOW! ----------------------------->

**Join the Carpool for Change movement with Facebook's first useful application:
BUILD A NEW FORM OF AFFORDABLE & SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION FROM THE BOTTOM UP!
http://apps.facebook.com/carpool/index.php?ref=OBAMA

Be careful of ticket scams. Try speaking with your local representative."

The person who created the event is John Zimmer, owner of a Silicon Valley startup, Zimride... which is subtly promoted in the event as a way to share rides to get to the inauguration.  While Zimmer's intentions may have been noble, stuff like this really bothers me.  He disingenuously appropriated images from the Obama campaign (a graphic from the email sent out after the election, saying "Thank You"), and while the "creator" still links to Zimmer's profile, the short form of the event shows it as having been created by "OBAMA."

In my eyes, this event is a very calculating and misleading ad that is capitalizing on the politics of the moment - to promote a Silicon Valley startup.  Zimmer gets access to send messages to a huge number of people, and will probably get a good number of people to try the Zimride service.  Be cautious when giving it your information.