• The New York Times, Friday, December 8, 2006 10:48 AM

Want to freshen up a promotional contest? Ask your users to create videos. Chipotle, Converse, General Motors and MasterCard are all enlisting users to create TV spots or promotional shorts for them. So far, more than 1,000 entries have been submitted to Frito-Lay for a contest to create a Super Bowl commercial for Doritos. The winning spot will make an appearance during the big game on Feb. 4.

But it's not just advertisers who are getting consumers to create TV spots--the networks are, too. The CW recently teamed up with Cadbury Schweppes to get users to create ads for Sunkist's new line of sodas. The winner of the contest receives an unusual prize: a role in an episode of "One Tree Hill" that will be filmed on location in the winner's hometown. This turns out to be a double-promotion for both the advertiser and the network.

"This is 360-degree marketing," said Bill Morningstar, executive vice president for national sales at CW, which is jointly owned by CBS and Time Warner. "It starts on air, extends online and has the ultimate grassroots layer, the show coming to the hometown."

The promotion began with a mention on the Nov. 29 episode of the show and will run through January 7. As of yesterday, there were 370 entries. Joe Davola, the show's executive producer said the interest generated from the Sunkist promotion is the reason the CW decided to keep the show on the air.

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