McDonald's robber is finalist in jingle contest -- for McDonald's

You can't make this stuff up. McDonald's is running a contest on MySpace to update its classic Big Mac jingle (remember "two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese . . ."). The five finalists' videos are on MySpace. Turns out that one of the finalists served jail time . . . FOR ROBBING A MCDONALD'S!

If he wins, I have no idea how McD's will spin this. But it does point out the uncontrolled nature of UGC (user-generated content) and web contests.

Read more here: McDonald's robber is finalist in jingle contest -- for McDonald's -- South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com

Frederick's Hosts Consumer Undie Contest

Here's a twist on the user-generated ad craze: instead of asking consumers to create an ad for their company, Frederick's of Hollywood is asking people to design their own corsets! The winning design will be shown alongside designs from celebrities such as Nicole Kidman and featured on the runway during its annual "Clothes Off Our Backs" charity auction.

Lots of companies are jumping on the consumer-generated craze. Dorito's asked users to create their Super Bowl commercial. Last week, we blogged about Heinz's contest asking users to create a t.v. spot for them. PayPal is getting in the act with a contest for developers. They're paying a whopping $10,000 to the developer who can come up with the best Facebook application using PayPal.

But none of the contests has my hubby's attention as much as the Frederick's one.

Frederick's Hosts Consumer Undie Contest
PayPal Developer Challenge
Heinz Ketchup Ad Contest Contest

MediaPost Publications - Heinz Pairs Ketchup With User-Generated Content - 07/23/2007

Have a little ketchup with your Dorito's . . . Dorito's was the first big brand to ask users to create a commercial for them (the winning spot ran in the SuperBowl earlier this year); now Heinz is trying the same tactic. Look for special ads promoting the contest ON THE KETCHUP bottles themselves and on ketchup packets. The contest is being cross-promoted all over the place . . . from print ads in the NYT and USA Today to a custom YouTube site. (Photo is of my nephew cuddling up to his ketchup bottle.)

Read more: MediaPost Publications - Heinz Pairs Ketchup With User-Generated Content - 07/23/2007

User-Gen Space Poised for Growth

User generated content (UGC) is a big part of what is known as Web 2.0. It consists of sites where the content is provided by its users rather than by a staff of editors, writers, etc. The best-known UGC sites include MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, and Wikipedia. They are more popular with the young, but are gaining traction with the over 25 set. And advertisers are taking notice.

To quote this article in AdWeek:
"Ad spending on Web sites that have built their traffic on user-gen staples like social networking, photo sharing and amateur video is expected to soar to $4.3 billion in 2011, according to a new report issued by eMarketer. That's a whopping increase of 330 percent versus the $1 billion expected to be spent in the space this year—which is itself more than double the $450 million in ad revenue tracked by eMarketer in 2006."

I remember when I first started selling advertising on the web (back in 1997), the heavy majority of web users were male. That shifted quickly. Expect to see some form of UGC take off in the business world. Imagine using personalized "MySpace" technology to power your site's user groups, for example. (It already exists. Check out Atlanta-based ThePort.) Do you have any ideas on how UGC can be used in the business world? Post them in the Comments section.

User-Gen Space Poised for Growth