Taking a cue from the success of the recent ad campaign for Unilever's Dove brand, fast-food marketer McDonald's Corp. is seeking non-actors to appear in some of it promotional materials. "People are
getting tired of the prepackaged slick look," says consumer behavior expert Michael Solomon. "Consumers know that when Michael Jordan says he uses Product X, he's being paid a bazillion dollars to do
that." McDonald's will put photos and brief messages for ordinary people on its cups and bags worldwide as part of its ongoing "I'm lovin' it" campaign. It's soliciting digital photos and stories of
100 words or less describing what people love. The company is going straight to the source and asking people to submit the material themselves--there are no casting agents involved searching for
"ordinary" people. "If you use real people-- especially those who have volunteered, not just that have been solicited on the street--it gives the campaign more credibility," says Renee Fraser, a
consumer psychologist who owns an ad agency. "It also says to the consumer, 'You're important.'" The trend appears to be catching on. In late March, Alberto-Culver's Nexxus hair-care product line
launched a contest to pick a non-celebrity woman to be its next fashion model.
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