You can see all of the FireFox Flicks winners here. There actually were a few stand-out entries. For example, here’s the perfect little video that won the US “30 Second Spot” category and went on to win the $10,000 USA Grand Prize:

click to view

Another weird thing about this contest; it was open to people all over the world and prizes were set aside for winners in each region (USA, Europe, Asia/Africa/Australia, and Latin America.)  Video contests just aren’t very popular outside of the US. Consequently, some not-so-hot films won $5,000 prizes simply because there were almost no other entries in their particular category.  I’ve actually seen this type of thing happen in a few “international” video contests before….you know, maybe I should pull an Eduardo Saverin, renounce my US citizenship and start shooting my contest entries in Asia.  Ha!  I’m a genius!  See you in Beijing, suckers!

Anyways, like I said, Ringo is cool.  And the video he made to announce the winner of his contest is pretty funny.  You can tell that someone probably just pulled him into his backyard to shoot this.  Then even though a incredibly loud plane flies right overhead, Ringo kept going.  So one take was all that Ringo had time for.  But he does say something pretty perfect at the end that saves the whole video:
 

 
And now here’s the music video that won the contest.  As you’ll hear/see, this was a really hard song to make a video for since there were long breaks where there weren’t any lyrics:
 

 
You can read the details of the contest or see more entries right here.  Peace and love, peace and love, peace and love.
 

Dole created the DOLE Fruit Flash Mob Video Contest to encourage students to make healthy meal choices as part of a healthy lifestyle. The contest incorporated fruit and fruit themes into the contemporary and fun entertainment of a flash mob performance (a spontaneous song and dance that erupts in an unsuspecting crowd). Contest rules required that both school foodservice staff and students participate in the video on location in school’s cafeteria/dining room.

The winners of the contest were determined by Dole.  Here’s the video they picked.  Skip to the middle for the singing and dancing action.
 
FIRST PLACE WINNER.  PRIZE:  $1,000 and 10 cases of fruit cups.

 
Maybe I’m too uptight but to me, that seemed kind of creepy.  For christsakes, a cafeteria full of kids had to get up and dance and sing for a thousand bucks and a few cases of fruit cups???  How much time and energy did they all have to put into learning that routine?  Yeah sure, the kids probably had fun but as an outside observer, this just feels wrong.  Do we really live in a country where little kids have to perform in mini-Hunger Games just to get some free fruit from a company that has revenues of about 7 Billion dollars a year? If Dole wanted to encourage kids to eat better, couldn’t they just GIVE AWAY a few dozen cases of fruit cups?  What good does it do to make little kids sing and dance and compete for such a meager prize?  Oh right….this flash mob video contest was about publicity and not about getting kids to eat better.  I’m guessing Dole will get a lot more than $1,000 of free advertising out of this whole thing.

And that’s the problem with contests like this.  Kids should NOT be participating in these types of contests because video contests are just another form of advertising.  Except in video contests, the kids actually become part of the ads.  I’m going to guess that the school didn’t get all the kids’ parents to sign consent and release forms. So most parents probably didn’t understand that their kids were going to be in a viral video promoting Dole. If I had kids and I found out that their school was making them participate in something like this I’d totally flip out.  I’ll say it as plainly as I can:  CHILDREN SHOULD NOT BE CORPORATE SHILLS. 

But hey, maybe I’m overreacting. Maybe next year Dole should run a contest where schools get one case of fruit cups for every student that agrees to wear a Dole t-shirt for a month straight.  The kids would get something to eat and Dole would get a bunch of tiny, walking billboards!  It’d be a win-win!
 

Eharmony’s First Place Winner. Prize: $8,000:

 
The winning filmmaker, Steven Huffaker actually shot two entries for this contest and his non-winning submission is so weird I had to post it too.  As a short film, I think it’s pretty good but as a video contest entry, it’s totally insane.  There is no panel of contest judges with balls big enough to put their company’s stamp of approval on a video that points out that Jesus’ death on the cross maybe wasn’t such a big sacrifice since he knew he was the son of God and that he’d be resurrected.  Yes…for serious.
 

 
UPDATE: Hey now, the director of these two videos left a comment last night and said that the he shot the Jesus ad just for fun. It wasn’t actually a submission. That actually makes me like that video even more than I already did since it was just a crazy short film and not a contest entry.

There are only about 8 cable channels that I actually watch on a regular basis and one of them happens to be Current TV.  The network runs some really excellent documentaries and news shows but I sort of miss the days when they used to run short, viewer-created docs all day long.  But while Current has moved away from airing viewer-made “pods,” they still air a lot of viewer-created ads thanks to their “Viewer Created Ad Message” program.  Here’s an especially great example of commercial that aired on Current. Oh…for some weird reason, Current makes you watch a commercial before you watch this commercial! So the VCAM ad is the second one that plays.

 Official VCAM Selection. Purchased and aired by Samsung:

 
Since I’m a big fan of spec commercial contests/assignments and Current TV, I was psyched when I got an e-mail from the folks behind the VCAM program, Barry Penland and Nicole Smith.  It sounded like 2012 was going to be a big year for VCAM so I decided to let Barry and Nicole tell you all about the program themselves…in the form of an interview!

VCN:  So, tell me about the VCAM program.  What is it and how does it work?

VCAM TEAM:  The Viewer Created Content program (VCAM) is a unique advertising vehicle born out of the user-generated spirit of Current TV six years ago.  The program brings independent producers together with national advertisers to create unique and often non-traditional ad campaign videos. Current TV was originally programmed solely by user-generated content and naturally complimented this aspect of our network.   As Current transitioned into more traditional programming, we maintained the VCAM department as a way to offer opportunities to producers to continue to contribute to the content, as well as receive recognition and compensation.  Current is based in several locations throughout the US, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco.

Producers can either sign up to receive notifications, or check the assignment page at http://current.com/vcam to find out about open callouts.  From there, they will be given details of the video assignment and the goals and guidelines of the brand.  If they choose to participate and their finished video is selected by the brand, the producer can be compensated up to $5,000 and the video may air on Current TV and be posted on both Current’s and the brand’s web sites.  If the video is chosen by the brand to air on other networks, there is the possibility for additional money.

An important distinction between VCAM and other contests is that our program is NOT a contest.  Instead, VCAMs are based on client-initiated assignments or “calls for content” that we send out to our producer community all over the world.  We engage with our producers directly and communicate with them during every step in the process: from the conception of their ideas, to execution of the production, through on-air delivery.  We also give them vast amounts of help to create their commercials, for example: access to a license free music library and visual assets – often from the advertiser directly.  Lastly, we invite our producers to speak directly with the brand on a conference call where producers can ask specific questions about the creative direction and receive honest feedback about what they are looking for in the content piece.

VCN:  What kind of brands have taken part in the program?

VCAM TEAM:  The brands that we work with are National Advertisers that have creative agencies that normally create their marketing/advertising for mainstream distribution. At Current, our advertisers are looking for innovative, cutting edge creative that has an authentic consumer perspective. They are not looking for the same old, same old. In our experience, brands have selected all types of VCAMs, whether unpolished and amateur, or clean and professional.

Brands have included: Toyota, HP, XM Radio, Paramount, Wachovia, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, Pop Secret, Microsoft, L’Oréal, Nikon, Canon, Mini, Lexus, T-Mobile, Nissan, McDonalds, Scion, Sun Chips, Clorox, Allstate, Mountain Dew, Gillette, Chrysler, Electronic Arts, Chrysler, eHarmony, Revlon, Geico, Hershey’s.

VCN:  Why do you think companies are interested in having “viewers” create their commercials?

VCAM TEAM:  Viewers bring a unique perspective that is increasingly important in our socially networked world.  Our producer community has done an amazing job at capturing brand messaging in their authentic consumer voice and we believe that is what draws advertisers to Current.

VCN:  Do you have some personal favorite VCAM ads?

VCAM TEAM:  Definitely!  Check these out:
 
Lexus – “Zaqistan”  http://current.com/groups/lexus-vcam-results/92261698

SunChips – “Little Steps”  http://current.com/groups/on-current-tv/92391223

Sony Pictures Digital – Battle L.A. “Night”  youtube.com/watch?v=VKkQs82I8Ac
 

VCN:  What do you think makes for a special viewer created ad?

VCAM TEAM:  VCAMs are all pretty special because they often represent perspectives that don’t normally appear in mainstream advertising.  Sincerity and simplicity make for some of the best VCAMs – even if they’re rough around the production edges.

VCN:  Are any VCAM assignments currently running?

VCAM TEAM:  We have a number of assignments already in progress, but there will be many new assignments throughout the rest of 2012 that producers can consider.  It is a very busy year!  Sign up for the VCAM newsletter at http://current.com/participate/vcam or email us at vcam@current.com to get involved.

VCN:  Here’s the final and most important question; who gets crazier at the Current TV office party; Al Gore or Keith Olbermann?

VCAM TEAM:  No comment
 

BodyArmor’s First Place winner.  Prize:  $7,500:

Pretty damn good, huh??  The thing that I love about that video is that it’s almost certainly based on a 20 year old urban legend.  Back when I was in grade school, I can remember kids talking about the hover boards that appeared in Back to the Future II.  The rumor was that the hoverboards in the movie were real but they were illegal in America because they were too dangerous.  Just a few years ago I learned that this hoverboard myth came directly from the film’s director, Robert Zemeckis.  According to Michael J. Fox, Zemeckis got tired of explaining how the hoverboard special effects were done in BTTFII so he just started saying that Hoverboards were real.  He went so far as to declare in some Back to the Future TV special the hoverboards were a real thing but toy companies couldn’t sell them because parents groups wouldn’t let them.  You can read a whole lot more about this weird story here.  That page includes a video that Zemeckis produced as “proof” that hoverboards existed.  Watch it closely and you’ll see that the director of the Body Armor video probably drew a little inspiration from it.

A dozen (!) other videos won prizes in this contest ranging from $3,000 to $500.  A lot of them are also pretty good so you might want to check them out.  Actually, you might want to just head over to Tongal so you can take a look at some of the contests they’re currently running.  I’m really impressed with how that site has grown in the last year.  They keep announcing one huge contest after another and the prize amounts keep going up and up.  I just checked and it looks like almost all of their current contests offer top prizes of at least $10,000.  So…that’s pretty nice.  http://tongal.com/projects