McDonald's Serves Up Citizen Content

If you're in the loop when it comes to viral video, you've likely already watched "I'm Into Nuggets Ya'll" on YouTube or Stupid Videos. The catchy rap and beat boxing poking fun at McDonald's "honest, we're hip" approach to marketing made the rounds last year after budding improv comedians Fernando Sosa and Thomas Middleditch filmed the bit in front of a McDonald's near Wrigley Field.

I saw the spot last fall when my brother-in-law passed it on. While my first thought was "wow, that guy sort of looks like Napoleon Dynamite," my second thought was "geeze, that's catchy." The clip did make the rounds, but still only has about 150,000 views on YouTube.

Apparently, at least one of those views was from a McDonald's Marketing associate because AdWeek reported earlier this month that the Arnold Creative Director tracked down the two stars of the video and bought the rights to air the spot on television. The spot is now airing on networks on the East Coast.

Brilliant move on the part of McDonald's. First, they didn't have to take the time to plan and launch a "search" for consumer generated content like Dorito's did for last year's Superbowl. Second, the use of a clip that was created by two people simply looking to have a little fun leave McDonald's with a video that has an stronger air of authenticity. Sometimes you just can't fake the good stuff.

The problem (for some marketers) comes in when Church of the Customer blogger Jackie Huba shares a quote from one of the stars.

That quote led to quite a bit of heat coming down on Fernando and Thomas. Many called them "sell-outs" and "shills" for taking money from a company they didn't fully support.

I find this interesting.

Apparently, many commentors on the various blogs that are challenging the ethics of Fernando and Thomas are read by people who believe that every celebrity endorsement, every paid actor in a commercial and even every marketing company that takes on a client fully backs 100% of the operations of that business. I'm fairly certain Kathie Lee Gifford didn't sign on the dotted line AFTER hearing about plans to hire sweatshop labor to create her Kathie Lee clothing line at Wal-Mart. It's pretty obvious that George Foreman didn't actually create his famous grill and somehow, I doubt he uses it to cook every single meal.

The point is, just because a commercial comes from citizens as opposed to a marketing firm doesn't mean that it's creation was an act of pure, unadulterated love.

I do have to wonder however if these recent pairings by companies like McDonald's and Mentos with citizen marketers will lead more large companies to keep tabs on the content popping up on consumer generated video sites. After all, TV executives have learned that reality shows cost a fraction of what scripted shows cost and TV schedules reflect that change. How long will it be before marketing firms decide that scouring YouTube and Google Videos is cheaper than hiring a production house?