Computer maker HP is ready to make everything about you famous—except your face.

In a campaign to promote its new “Artist Edition” HP notebook computer, the company’s “You on You” user-generated content contest has asked people to create Web videos expressing who they are and what they’re passionate about and upload them to HP’s YouTube channel . But in a twist that resembles HP’s broadcast commercials featuring only the hands of famous endorsers such as Fergie, Shaun White and Serena Williams, entrants can’t show themselves above the neck.

“Pick out a few things that make you who you are and put them into a short video clip,” Grammy-nominated singer Kenna says in a contest launch video on the YouTube site.”But you can’t show your face. We know you’re pretty, but this is about what you do—not what you look like.”

Beginning with a July contest launch and running for six weeks through Aug. 30, applicants could upload their videos to HP’s YouTube channel. Every week a panel of experts selected 20 semifinalist videos from the week’s submissions, and YouTube viewers chose the top four from that group. Creators could share their videos across various social platforms and encourage others to vote for them.

Those 100 finalists are now entered to win the $40,000 grand prize and the recognition that comes with a prime spot on YouTube’s home page. Second- and third-prize winners will receive $20,000 and $15,000, and all 100 semifinalists will win an HP Artist Edition notebook PC. Submitted videos will also be eligible for a Community Award.

Winners will be named after September 21. For now, the finalists can be viewed on HP’s YouTube channel.

Entrants were able to enhance their clips with YouTube video creation tools, including improved Adobe remixing and webcam video tools. They were also able to download one of more than 30 rights-approved music tracks to accompany their video—all in an effort to level the playing field between video pros and relative newcomers.

Judging by the field of finalists on the youTube channel, they’ve succeeded pretty well. Here’s a representative offering:



“HP hopes to inspire and foster creativity,” HP Personal Systems Group marketing communications vice president David Roman said in a release. “Combining personal passions, digital remixing tools, and the YouTube stage means we’ll be able to gather, celebrate and reward expressions of originality like never before.”

The contest is the broadest competition held to date on YouTube, open to entrants from around the globe and localized for 21 YouTube English-speaking and non-English countries. YouTube held a contest almost as global at the end of 2008, when it launched a worldwide search for players in a YouTube symphony orchestra. Agency Marden-Kane administered the YouTube Symphony competition and serves in the same capacity for the HP “You on You” global contest.

“We are really excited about the global scope, accessibility and social aspects of the HP ‘You on You’ project,” YouTube head of marketing programs Jamie Byrne said. “This is one of the first programs where we have integrated tools for users to share their videos as broadly as possible across the Web and other social platforms.”

Other brands have reached for the crowds in efforts to freshen their ad approaches, of course. E-tailer Amazon has just closed the voting on its own UGC commercial search. For some unknown reason, they’re also making the finalists invisible until the winner is announced on Sept. 21. But you can find many of the apparent non-finalists on YouTube, and some, like this one, are pretty good.



And the mother of all UGC commercial talent hunts, Frito-Lay’s Doritos “Crash the Super Bowl” contest, is getting ready to launch, also on Sept. 21. (What is it about that date?) The winning consumer Doritos spot first made it to Super Ad Bowl glory in 2007, and Frito-Lay repeated in the 2009 game with two UGC winners. One of those spots took the top rank in the 2009 post-game Ad Meter consumer poll, and its creators walked away with a $1 million award.

This time—perhaps because a mere $1 million now seems cheesy?–the contest will ramp up both the exposure and the potential cash awards to the winners. A top Ad Meter spot will still win the million, but fledgling videographers can also earn $600,000 for placing second on Ad Meter or $400,000 for coming in third. If the Doritos UGC ads pull off the trifecta and earn all three top Ad Meter spots, each of the filmmakers will get an extra $1 million, for a total cash outlay of $5 million.

Computer maker HP is ready to make everything about you famous—except your face.

In a campaign to promote its new “Artist Edition” HP notebook computer, the company’s “You on You” user-generated content contest has asked people to create Web videos expressing who they are and what they’re passionate about and upload them to HP’s YouTube channel . But in a twist that resembles HP’s broadcast commercials featuring only the hands of famous endorsers such as Fergie, Shaun White and Serena Williams, entrants can’t show themselves above the neck.

“Pick out a few things that make you who you are and put them into a short video clip,” Grammy-nominated singer Kenna says in a contest launch video on the YouTube site.”But you can’t show your face. We know you’re pretty, but this is about what you do—not what you look like.”

Beginning with a July contest launch and running for six weeks through Aug. 30, applicants could upload their videos to HP’s YouTube channel. Every week a panel of experts selected 20 semifinalist videos from the week’s submissions, and YouTube viewers chose the top four from that group. Creators could share their videos across various social platforms and encourage others to vote for them.

Those 100 finalists are now entered to win the $40,000 grand prize and the recognition that comes with a prime spot on YouTube’s home page. Second- and third-prize winners will receive $20,000 and $15,000, and all 100 semifinalists will win an HP Artist Edition notebook PC. Submitted videos will also be eligible for a Community Award.

Winners will be named after September 21. For now, the finalists can be viewed on HP’s YouTube channel.

Entrants were able to enhance their clips with YouTube video creation tools, including improved Adobe remixing and webcam video tools. They were also able to download one of more than 30 rights-approved music tracks to accompany their video—all in an effort to level the playing field between video pros and relative newcomers.

Judging by the field of finalists on the youTube channel, they’ve succeeded pretty well. Here’s a representative offering:



“HP hopes to inspire and foster creativity,” HP Personal Systems Group marketing communications vice president David Roman said in a release. “Combining personal passions, digital remixing tools, and the YouTube stage means we’ll be able to gather, celebrate and reward expressions of originality like never before.”

The contest is the broadest competition held to date on YouTube, open to entrants from around the globe and localized for 21 YouTube English-speaking and non-English countries. YouTube held a contest almost as global at the end of 2008, when it launched a worldwide search for players in a YouTube symphony orchestra. Agency Marden-Kane administered the YouTube Symphony competition and serves in the same capacity for the HP “You on You” global contest.

“We are really excited about the global scope, accessibility and social aspects of the HP ‘You on You’ project,” YouTube head of marketing programs Jamie Byrne said. “This is one of the first programs where we have integrated tools for users to share their videos as broadly as possible across the Web and other social platforms.”

Other brands have reached for the crowds in efforts to freshen their ad approaches, of course. E-tailer Amazon has just closed the voting on its own UGC commercial search. For some unknown reason, they’re also making the finalists invisible until the winner is announced on Sept. 21. But you can find many of the apparent non-finalists on YouTube, and some, like this one, are pretty good.



And the mother of all UGC commercial talent hunts, Frito-Lay’s Doritos “Crash the Super Bowl” contest, is getting ready to launch, also on Sept. 21. (What is it about that date?) The winning consumer Doritos spot first made it to Super Ad Bowl glory in 2007, and Frito-Lay repeated in the 2009 game with two UGC winners. One of those spots took the top rank in the 2009 post-game Ad Meter consumer poll, and its creators walked away with a $1 million award.

This time—perhaps because a mere $1 million now seems cheesy?–the contest will ramp up both the exposure and the potential cash awards to the winners. A top Ad Meter spot will still win the million, but fledgling videographers can also earn $600,000 for placing second on Ad Meter or $400,000 for coming in third. If the Doritos UGC ads pull off the trifecta and earn all three top Ad Meter spots, each of the filmmakers will get an extra $1 million, for a total cash outlay of $5 million.