Devoted to show business and the entertainment industry

The introduction of this years' Monopoly Game promotion by McDonalds (MCD) makes me think of how they've tapped the user-generated content craze and put their own unique twist on it for great success.

What is different is some winners of the bigger prizes are then featured on packaging and even have been included in commercials by the company.

In this case it's McDonalds that is basically creating the content, but keeping the object of that content the user. That's what the twist is, and it has worked great for them to ensure the authenticity and integrity of the promotion, which has been wildly successful over the years.

What gives it so much authenticity and power is the inclusion of the actual winners of the contests and prizes, not having some actor play that person. It ties into the huge popularity of seeing regular people not only win, but be presented as what people today consider "users" or regular people in media. It's the reason user-generated content is so popular.

McDonalds taking that trend and adapting to their specific business model is a great look at what would be considered a traditional company understanding the current marketplace and using the mentality of that marketplace to promote their brand and drive sales.

People not only get opportunities to win prizes and money, but they get a chance to be inserted into a commercial and on packaging as themselves ... the ultimate of being a user. I guess you could call it professionally generated content featuring the user.

The bottom line is some winners have a chance to become a "user" celebrity, becoming part of McDonalds content. All the aspects of this campaign are put together almost perfectly; the reason it is so popular and successful.

They've added the aspect of becoming an "amateur" celebrity some of the big winners, something that powerfully resonates with the general population and consumer at this time.