• by Jennifer Berger , September 22, 2006

Ever longed to share your secrets with the world? Wish you could shout from the rooftops about your cheating ex? Welcome to the world of consumer-generated media, where you can be part of the show and hawk products simultaneously.

To promote its 50th anniversary, Secret deodorant wanted to "extend [the] program from an ad campaign to [reach] the consumer directly," says Jay Gooch, Secret's external relations manager. "Secret has long stood for strong women and strong protection, and it takes a strong person to share a secret."

Over the summer, women were invited to anonymously share a secret via text message or the Web. The secret was then projected onto a billboard in Times Square. More than 8,000 secrets have been posted to date.

Cable net Court TV didn't have consumers post a secret - it had them find one. To promote the second season of its series "Parco PI," Court TV posted billboard messages throughout New York, L.A., and Chicago from a woman named Emily about the discovery of her husband's affair.

The goal, says Jason Valentzas, Court TV's vice president of consumer affairs, "was to generate awareness [and] gain momentum and buzz."

But there are risks to this approach. When Chevrolet invited consumers to create online ads for the Chevy Tahoe, 25 percent of the 30,000-plus ads submitted criticized the car's environmental effects. Steve Rubel, senior vice president at Edelman PR, lauds Chevy's decision not to pull the negative ads. "It shows guts and a willingness to take risks," he says.

Joseph Jaffe, author of Life After the 30-Second Spot, cites the five/50 rule: "Within five years time, 50 percent of content will be consumer-generated."