Today’s as good a day as any to start a new series here at Patchchord that I’m going to call “Ask An Interactivist.” I get questions all the time via email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. about the random and not-so-random happenings in the digital advertising/marketing space. Today’s question (below) comes from a KC colleague of mine. (Note: It’s been heavily redacted, naturally, to protect the identity of the questioner as well as remove mention of specific brands.)

So, I had heard about Chat Roulette, but loved the video you showed on your fb, John. How long do you think it’ll be before advertisers get on there? Maybe we should suggest this for one of our up-and-coming brands? … It might also be an interesting way to gather some qualitative data from a very mass audience.

Thanks for the question. For those that haven’t seen the video on my Facebook page, take a gander at the embed below. For those of you scratching your head and asking “what the hell is Chatroulette?” here’s the ever-evolving Wikipedia definition.

My answer? Brands are starting to get into Chatroulette.com already, eager to be seen with the digital darling of the moment (or digital dude of the moment doing what digital dudes do online in chatrooms…um…yeah). For a great article on the first brand on this particular moon, check out this post from ContagiousMagazine.com regarding FCUK’s recent Chatroulette efforts, where “on March 1st, the chain announced the launch of a competition asking men to use the service in order to set up an actual, real life date with an actual, real life girl.” An interesting idea and perhaps a damn tall order. The first to do so and be able to prove it would win a £250 FCUK voucher. Per the article, “all they need do is post the results of their conversation on the French Connection blog, get it past the fact-checkers, and the voucher is theirs.”

The issue, in my opinion, is finding a brand willing to not only associate themselves with such a controversial platform where pervs and pretty girls are only a single button click away from each other but also finding an association where it’s the right fit for the brand. I’m not quite to the point where I think I could see myself pitching a client on this anytime soon. There is viral potential here…just don’t know if it’d be a good association. And given the rapid fire, ADD nature of the experience, I don’t think we’d ever be able to hold anyone’s attention long enough for research purposes unless we adopt the practices suggested in the video above.

Closing point: I wonder how long it will take before we see the King on Chatroulette. (Not this one…I’m talking about this one.) That might be, as I see it, the PERFECT use of the pervasive, plastic-grinned brand proxy and this emerging platform…and the only brand that could get away with it right now.