Come on, Skittles! I loved you as a kid! You were my favorite Halloween candy besides the chocolate!

So why the lame site?

Skittles is jumping the social media bandwagon by integrating YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter into its website. That’s basically their site. Why do I think this is a lame idea they probably paid way too much money for?

1.) IT’S FREAKING CANDY. Unless it’s Pop Rocks and is killing kids or something, no one is going to talk about it. The novelty of your site will wear off quickly and your designers will be laughing all the way to the bank. Candy is not a social object that gets the blogosphere talking.
2.) It looks unprofessional. The people who are going to your website who are looking for nutritional information or allergy info are doing to think you are going bankrupt.

What would I have done if Mars had hired me?
1.) An interactive flash element that allowed people to play and make arrangements with Skittle graphics.
2.) Games. “Easter eggs” (fun elements) hidden throughout your site. Kids love playing games online. Advertise on your candy package that you have games on your site. Have a leader board and everything (first name and last initial only, of course. Gotta protect the kids). Kids love games–now kids REALLY love your candy.
3.) A scholarship contest where kids can win a $2k scholarship and a Toys R Us gift card for kid created “Skittles” art (Skittles glued to paper to make pictures). Advertise to mommy bloggers and have them upload pics up on Flickr.

No, instead you have a lame site no one understands but the very select niche of people who use social networks. Your audience (=primarily kids) will not care about it at all. Props.