Have a nice time trying to use Avira as that has far more pop-ups and is why many came to avast.
As you say you have used avast forever, you would have to base your judgement on your past experience and not just one instance of a free promo.
I have used Avast since 2001 (when they made their first free version) and have recommended / installed this product more times than I can remember.
Even though I have this vast amount of experience to base my judgement on, I was STILL concerned when I saw the pop up about the contest. When it popped up, my stomach dropped. I quickly found that it wasn't spam or anything terrible, but it still made me uneasy. I've warned 100s of my clients about these "get a free laptop by completing only 5 offers" and the pop up smelled like one of those scams. I know it isn't one, but it might frighten some older folks who I put the fear of God into by telling them the woes of these sorts of schemes.
You can say what you want to "super users / evangelists / uberevangelists" but all it makes you sound like is a bunch of Avast bots trying to stop an uprising among the community who is just voicing their worth-considering concerns. I've seen comments on here that would make me fire you if you worked for my company. You should never treat anyone with disrespect or assume they know less than you by using condescending speech when responding to their concerns. It's fuel to the fire.
You should offer helpful suggestions by stating and restating over and over again how to turn off the community settings... instead of saying things like: "read the whole stinking thread to figure it out because we already answered your ignorant question." Most of us just want the fix, not a snide remark.
(copy and paste the following to new posts if others ask the question later)
HOW TO FIX THIS: 1. Open the Avast interface by double clicking on the orange "A" in the lower right part of your screen.
2. Click on "Settings" at the top of the window.
3. Click on "Community on the lower left.
4. Uncheck both items in the section titled "Community Features"
5. Click "OK" and then close Avast's main window. You shouldn't see these messages anymore!