Ford to back online Wiki sitcom

Ford has signed up as the sponsor of a major online sitcom that will invite viewers to create characters and write scripts. Where are the Joneses launches this week.

The show has been created by experiential design and marketing company Imagination with Baby Cow, the production company owned by comedian Steve Coogan. Where are the Joneses will offer users differing levels of interaction such as the blog – which gives viewers a chance to watch the daily episode and leave feedback. But viewers can also contribute to the script, suggest storylines and upload content through the Wiki.

The show’s two main characters – siblings Dawn and Ian Jones – discover that their father was a prolific sperm donor. The pair set off on a journey through Europe in search of other brothers and sisters. The characters that they meet are dictated by users online; each day, their adventures are filmed and uploaded to the site, allowing the audience to comment and shape the next day’s events.

Where Are The Joneses also uses The Creative Commons Licence – which facilitates all media sharing – and is the largest commercial media project to use the licence scheme.

Mark Simpson, Ford of Europe’s director of marketing communications says “Increasingly, consumers are expecting to participate as creators in their own media space – this sitcom gives the Web community the opportunity to do this, and we are pleased to be associated with it.”