Welcome to the Bud House World cup online reality show extravaganza. The contestants are in, the tournament starts today, and so does the competition.

32 World Cup qualified countries, 32 different people, one from each country, one house(In South Africa), and one winner. What excitement! and of course we need a distraction since Ireland very unfortunately aren't involved.

This is the latest in online interaction, with an integrated Youtube website and various media channels feeding in, we'll be watching this one for user generated content. Each person representing their national team will do a daily blog, and as well as that they will live and watch the World Cup together. When their national team is kicked out of the competition, so are they. What is also interesting is the part of the site not yet launched, named 'You Decide'. As the site says - "Starting June 11, you'll be able to influence the lives of the people in Bud House" so we'll be checking back to see what manipulative means are available to us to punish the French contender.

Joking aside, this is a powerful promotion, relevant to the target market, both male and female, as well as current and exciting. By involving 23 people, they are involving 32 countries, so their reach is global. A qiock check on contestant names shows an impressive list of people selected for their 'followers' on various 2.0 platforms.

Bud House steps online reality viewing and interaction up a notch, and is setting the way for future endeavours.
It will be interesting to see what actual level of interaction ensues, and how successful the campaign is come final day.

By DDB Chicago: Bud House