2 FREE Southwest Airline Tickets?

Nothing for consumers is ever truly free.

Take this latest promotion for two free Southwest Airline tickets:

By asking Facebook users to comment with "Southwest is the Best", the airline or related marketer is really asking you to sacrifice your own brand, or identity in the case of a person, and reputation. If you jump when told to leap, and you do so often, you'll start to dilute your own "marketing" voice or power. Of course, this type of promotion is meant to be fun and easy, and admittedly it appeals to my very social engaging nature.

But in the end, it's virtually free advertising for them (minus the labor to conceive of the campaign and follow through with it). Is it really free to you or me? As much as I participate with social engagement online, I'm starting to think no, at least not with something like this.

That being said, it's a well-played approach, tried and true and one any business looking for an extra boost of brand awareness should consider.