Chat up on Chatroulette

Chatroulette took the internet by storm a couple of weeks ago. And those smart kids at Poke London see an opportunity and grabbed it.

They developed a promotion for French Connection.

In essense you had to seduce a woman via Chatroulette then send evidence to French Connection for your chance to win $250.

Word spread fast. The promo also annoyed a few women as only men were allowed to enter.

So Poke and French Connection changed the rules and let the ladies get involved too.


Click here for more info on the promotion from the French Connection blog.

Prize or exploitation?

Remember those great Benetton ads of the 90's?

Sure they may have been controversial but at least they had something to say.

Sadly these days (at least in Australia) we rarely see Benetton ads.

Or are their ads so bland and politically correct we don't notice them?

I suspect it may be.

Their advertising these days tends to feature clean cut people of many races. And not much else.

To ensure they have a constant supply of these cute 'n clean types they're currently running a global casting call competition.

Sounds like fun. Or is it?

Well of course it is but the cynic in me says it's tantamount to exploitation.

In the words of Benetton, "It's not about catwalk cliches and model attitude. We’re looking for natural beauty and fresh faces."

Sounds good. But...

"The 100 highest voted entries get featured in our new book on global style and win 200 euro to spend in Benetton."

200 euro! That's about $300. and a fraction of what they'd pay someone with "model attitude".

But it's not even 200 euro really. It's 200 euro to spend at Benetton.

Call me a grumpy old git, but how much longer are young people going to fall victim to the lures of crowdsourcing?

You might think it sounds good but the only people making any real money from it are the people organising it.

Thinking inside the box

Fledgling Canadian agency Zulu Alpha Kilo found an interesting way to get their name out there while also demonstrating their creative abilities.

They put themselves in a white box.

Not just any white box mind you. There's was the size of a small bedroom and it was placed in a prominent public square in Toronto.

Posters across the town raised awareness. Driving people to the white box to submit their questions and problems to the agency staff within.

Reminds me a bit of the Yahoo Big Chair in Sydney a few years back. Although I think it takes that idea a step further.

Certainly beats most agency self promos I've seen. Click here to see some of the questions submitted and a couple of nice videos.