I found an article on Techdirt which you can read here, about new clauses in contracts that are made by General Mills. This new clause may come as a shocker to many of us, since it’s about receiving retribution from the company on any of it’s cereals.

In this article, the main focus is about how General Mills, the company that produces multiple brands of cereal and other products like Bisquick or Betty Crocker has entered new clauses in the agreements between the consumer and company. Meaning, that when the consumer agrees to purchase the product, like the product on Facebook, obtain coupons from the company or even enter their sweepstakes, the consumer is actually agreeing to give up their right to sue the company for any complaints they may have. Instead they must try to mitigate any issues through emails.

I believe that this is going to the extreme to avoid litigation cost that they may incur in a possible law suit for any reason that may surface. This caught my eye when I read about how if the consumer “likes” the cereal page or the page of any of their products meant that they were giving up their right. Especially since we just watched the video on Generation Like, which talks about the power of likes. This goes to show that, even brands like General Mills are conforming to this generation of likes, and using this social norm and currency to their advantage.

My question are, do you think their actions are too extreme and unnecessary? Is one of the consequences of generation like or just a side affect that no one expected to happen especially since generation like seems to be more focused on a different basis?