They are trying to appeal to the parents who will be buying graduating gifts for their kids in middle school most likely.
I said this in another forum, but yeah. People will gobble up any $0.99 smartphone, and without looking at the specs too. At least that's what I get from the people who nag on the Amazon App Store about stuff not working all the time.
It actually has good specs, and you can easily turn that junk off without rooting. However, I wouldn't buy it either. You can use Facebook on any other phone anyway.