LonelyGirl15 fights crime with product placement friend

New Zealand actress Jessica Lee Rose, known on video-sharing site YouTube as “lonelygirl15″ will be the first of a new generation of professional webcast profiteers. This is definitely a space to watch.

clipped from mashable.com While we long ago exposed the Lonelygirl15 phenomenon as the work of professionals and not a 16-year old in her bedroom, the latest twist in the Web drama takes selling out to a whole new level. We’ve received word that LG15 will soon be getting a new friend on the show – a scientist from skin care product company Neutrogena! The Neutrogena employee will appear in multiple episodes and reportedly help the show’s cast fight an evil group called “The Order” (while subtly pimping products from the manufacturer of “premium skin, hair and cosmetics products”). “This long-term relationship with Neutrogena is unprecedented, as the brand comes to life organically with the characters and storyline”, according to the marketing pitch. With LG15’s videos being viewed hundreds of thousands of times and other Web dramas such as Prom Queen enjoying success, the Neutrogena character will be an experiment worth watching as show creators look for ways to monetize all of their eyeballs.

Is LonelyGirl15 a sell-out?