Authenticity in Advertising?

I’m on my way to Palo Alto today to present ViTrue at the Under the Radar conference. Fresh on my mind today is the backlash that erupted on YouTube in the past few days around the Lip Sync contest that Malibu Rum put together, soliciting YouTubers to do a lipsync to that ‘Lime in the Coconut’ song. I love that song by the way. Always makes me smile and I’ve legitimately wondered if one can relieve a belly ache by drinking a lime/coconut concoction. At any rate, they key thing that’s being called into question on this effort is the authenticity of the brand and their contest. I love that the community has literally risen up and shouted that this particular form of advertising, user-created advertising, needs to adhere to certain standards. And here’s the kicker, the standards aren’t decided by some board of white guys, or by the publisher or by the advertiser– they’re decided by the community on YouTube. I dig it!

CORRECTION: The song is “Day-O, Daaaaay-O”… personally I like the “Lime in the Coconut” song better…