Good morning:

We've talked over the last months about the trend of Websites which feature consumer-created content. Sometimes this is just me and my friends having fun, like www.myspace.com and www.flickr.com, but sometimes the sites become real destinations, like www.youtube.com. And every once an awhile we see an advertiser trying to crack into this, with a website for consumer-created content; some good, some bad, some very ugly. Here's a few more postings on this frontier, plus the latest Google-generated content:

McDONALDS "CASTING CALL:" This "consumer-created content" trend has spawned several recent forays by agencies and clients into "consumer-created" advertising. A couple of recent attempts by big brands have ended in spectacular disaster--we posted some of the Chevy Tahoe "make your own commercial" parodies, which all ripped the Tahoe for being a gas-guzzling SUV. (The contest has been taken down, as you can see at "Chevy Apprentice" )

Now McDonalds is in the middle of this mash-up of a trend, with a contest to get your photo printed on millions of Mcdonald's hamburger wrappers. Enter your photo and you could be one of 25 lucky winners. At least they can filter out the obscene and irate entries--something Chevy didn't think about: Global casting.com

CONVERSE "CONVERSE GALLERY" More consumer-generated content: The shoe company Converse has a consumer-generated Website, Converse Gallery, featuring homemade music videos and commercials (and pseudo-commercials) almost entirely made by consumers. I say "almost" because there are very sophisticated videos by Mos Def and other stars and directors. There's a fair number from starving actors and their line producer/cum commercial director buddies, which can be both entertaining and sophisticated. Each one features a converse shoe in the course of the video. New films posted every day, and the release of a new Converse model brings in hundreds of videos: Converse Gallery

KRAFT FOODS "U-STARVIN.COM" Kraft shoots for the 19-25 crowd with this interactive look at college life. Using Flash 8, they take you to the "University of St.Arvin" where you can visit a bunch of wacky college students in their dorm and fraternity rooms, as they deal with their hunger pangs in humorous, wacky ways. I give this a C minus for the humor and the acting, but there's some thought to how you can use interactivity to explore a fun environment (check out "this dude will eat anything." Kraft Mac N' Cheeze is the product being advertised--and college students are probably make up a fertile but unexplored market for Mac N Cheese: U-Starvin.com

GOOGLE "GOOGLE CALENDAR" Google released a free calendar product this week which is the next piece of evidence that they aim to organize and control the computer desktop for consumers. The idea is that you can set up multiple calendars---business, social, kids, whatever--and as you enter appointments into the calendar, Google searches based on the words in your entry and serves up ads it hopes are relevant. For example, if you enter "Lucky Number Sleven and dinner with Claire" for this Saturday night, Google will place ads for theaters showing "Lucky Number Sleven" plus ads for restaurants nearby. The ads pay for the service, and Google has another media channel to sell ads into. Here's a good story in the Washington Post about it: WaPost Article. And here's Google Calendar itself: Google Calendar

REUTERS "SPRINT TO OFFER MOBILE CHILD LOCATER SERVICE" Interesting article about Sprint / Nextel using the emergency geo-position service (GPS) function to create a service allowing parents to track where their kids (if they also carry a mobile phone) are at any time. Buried in this article is an interesting business note: Disney is talking about offering the service to parents, but branding the service "Disney." This is where I think there's a early and big home run in mobile marketing: "Branded Services," as I call them, are services offered by sponsors for free to customers, and the sponsor picks up the cost. Branded services generate real good will with consumers, since they're getting a free service, and if the sponsor picks the right service, it can really improve their brand image. Disney and this mobile child locater sounds right on to me: Disney locater article

Go generate your own content this week...Thanks-RJ