M by Mariah Carey joins with Ford Models and MTV to launch the "Virtual Ford Model Search", a campaign to find the new face of MTV's Virtual Hills (a virtual world based on the network's show, The Hills):
The campaign is designed to appeal to a generation of young, aspiring consumers who take their online persona as seriously as their real-world presence...
Beginning Monday, viewers can go to vmodelsearch.mtv to create their own customized avatar, which they'll use on their quest to become the world's first-ever virtual model. Participants will experience opportunities to "meet" in-world with a roster of Ford Models' experts who will provide invaluable beauty and styling tips on everything from fashion, skincare, hair, and makeup -- of which all can apply to the real world. Viewers are then given a virtual bottle of M by Mariah Carey -- complete with a spray animation -- along with a Ford Models portfolio book to carry throughout the virtual world.
[...] At the heart of the campaign is a series of events in early January, in which models will be asked to show off their virtual acting capabilities by posing with the bottle and acting out a commercial for the fragrance. They will also be asked to walk a virtual runway and compete in a virtual dance contest. Representatives from Ford Models, Elizabeth Arden and MTV will conduct the judging.
Three finalists will be chosen by an expert panel on January 14, 2008. The winner -- as determined by viewer votes -- will be announced on-air on January 31, 2008.
(via prnewswire)
“who take their online persona as seriously as their real-world presence… ”
Rolls eyes, clicks tongue, shakes head…walks away worried about the future. <--- That's what my online persona is doing right now.
You know, I'm online so much I can't throw stones, can I?
Can we become anymore unreal and fake than this?
Or is Mariah just lazy by letting others do so much work like creating avatars for some weird competition.
I'm guessing this will be popular w/ the target audience, e.g., people who hang around in online virtual worlds owned by MTV.
I… don't get this. At all. This is the strangest thing I've ever heard.
Young and aspiring consumers … people who aspire to consume, one guesses.
Exactly!