Everyone’s favorite1 burger joint is getting some interesting publicity today. First it was the guy who lost 80 pounds eating nothing but McDonald’s, but now it’s something a little more related to new media. McDonald’s is holding a public contest to write the jingle for their next television commercial. According to the website, there’s really no rules other than the inclusion of the following Grammy-winning lyrics: Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. 

After you get past the obvious hilarity of this contest (the MySpace page features an overflowing Big Mac with the phrase “You So Want One” above it) we end up with an idea that a lot of companies have been adopting lately. The question is whether or not it will pay off for McDonald’s.

Why have companies been outsourcing their commercials to the public, anyway?

1. It’s cheaper! This is the most obviously explanation, of course. Even though it may seem like costs for running a contest like this would be quite high, they pale in comparison to the production and distribution budget for a “real” commercial, which would be in the millions, if not tens of millions, of dollars.

2. It makes your customers feel involved. The whole reason YouTube took off wasn’t because of theincredible quality of available content. (Can you sense my sarcasm?) It was because it gave everyone a voice. Anyone can create content. Other companies have since found that giving your customers some sort of a voice keeps them happy.

3. It markets itself. All these kids writing songs for this contest will be putting them online, sending them to their friends, putting them on their blogs… By the time this contest is over, hundreds of thousands of people will have seen/heard commercials for McDonald’s, and since McDonald’s has specified the lyrics of the song, their marketing message will have been absorbed by them all.

So will this work? That depends on the definition. I am highly skeptical as to whether things like this will actually cause huge numbers of people to flock to the burger place, especially the people who will end up seeing this on television. Also, no offense to McDonald’s, but there aren’t too many companies with aworse reputation amongst young people.

But among the kids who submit entries for this contest, I think there’s actually a pretty good chance they’ll feel like heading over to McDonald’s for a burger. Wouldn’t you, after spending that many hours marketing someone’s product for free?

Will McDonald’s profit from this little competition? I doubt it, but I could be wrong. And hey, there’s something to be said for the power of new media if even companies like McDonald’s are starting to believe in it.

1 not at all