Not all the reporting on Facebook Beacon is 100% accurate. Much in the same way that cattle travel in heards… many in the blogosphere were quick to “report” that coke had bailed on facebook beacon. We could not get any clear response from our contacts so we held off.

I have been quiet about facebooks Beacon for a few days. Intentionally. Waiting for some clearer insights and staying away from speculation that many bloggers are engaging in. Better to be a few days late and closer to truth in our opinion.

We just came across an article from Adweek.com that makes the involvement by Coke with Facebook a lot clearer.

The people at Adweek know advertising execs very well and are tightly connected. They have reported that a Coke marketing executive has disputed a report that says the company is snubbing Facebook.

So everyone should just “have a Coke and a smile” and chill for a few days while the facebook beacon dust settles. I doubt many bloggers will do this… Controversy and outlandish statements drive traffic to their blogs. We will be up here on the high road.

Here is a short excerpt from the adweek.com facebook beacon article.

Following a post from New York Times “Bits” blogger Louise Story, the blogosphere has been roiling with the news that Coke had snubbed Facebook’s Beacon notification feature.

Not so, according to Coke rep Susan Stribling, who told Brandweek.com that quotes from Carol Cruse, the beverage giant’s vp of global interactive marketing, concerning the company’s “wait and see” policy toward Beacon were taken out of context.

Stribling emphasized that Beacon was something Coke had been exploring but had not made any firm commitment to support.

“It wasn’t supposed to be part of our phase-one activation on Facebook,” Stribling said, adding that the company was moving forward with both its corporate profile on the social networking site, using the sponsored feeds channel (known as Social Ads), and launching its “Sprite Sips” application.

“It’s not that Beacon won’t be something we do later on, but it’s not the focus for us,” Stribling said. “It’s not that we were doing something with Beacon and then we pulled out, and we certainly haven’t stopped with Facebook.”

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