User Generated Advertising

Today, while checking my mail @ Gmail I noticed a video link posted on the home page. I am sure every one logging on through this page would have noticed it. Google's Home Page and Gmail's Home Page are any ways the most premium real estate properties available on the Internet and we are all so used to see the clean white interface that any deviation from normal can't get unnoticed!

Coming to the video now, it's an interesting collage of videos submitted by users across the globe in response to Google's Call for Videos on "How an email message travel across the globe". It's an interesting execution hinting upon the way email in general and Gmail in particular is connecting the world. It also made me think that it might give a talking point to the early Gmail bashers on the privacy issue - in a way the ad shows the message passing through so many hands ! Just another way to look at it for the folks who may still believe in this school of thought.

Linking this back to my last post on the importance of creating time - this one is the latest add on to the "perfect examples" list. More than 3.5 Million Users have already seen it ! Makes me wonder - Will Google ever need any sort of "so called" mass media !?

Some Related Links:
Link to the final collaborative video page

Also, check out all the responses from which the final video is made here