I definitely think, for example, that there is a much higher percentage of Second Lifers who are into amateur/user content and goods, than the general public. Many of these people, in fact, came to Second Life specifically to start their own businesses, or because they like supporting the self-employed and tiny self-financed companies; and big brands I think are simply going to find a lot more resistance to their products than out in ‘real life,’ and always will.

But on the other hand, as Electric Sheep point out (and I should mention that I’m a big fan of Electric Sheep, which is one of those user-content companies I was mentioning), sometimes the pure revenue being generated doesn’t really matter in these situations; that much like many viral marketing campaigns and ARGs (i.e. this summer’s “Lost Experience”), the main point is to simply generate a ton of press from external media sources. To a small company especially, this can save them literally millions on national advertising; it’s a benefit that sometimes far outweighs whatever liquid cash is generated from the endeavor.

Ultimately I’m all for the big brands coming in and seeing if they can do business; but that’s mostly because I play Second Life for the variety of it, for the endless random cool things one can come across there, every time one is ‘in the grid.’ If cellphone companies and ’80s bands want to add to the chaotic melting pot going on there, I say so much the better.