OK, my second post on Chatroulette in a week but this piece of news (which floated my way via the all seeing, all knowing, all-round good bloke Ashley Norris at ShinyShiny.tv) merits a mention.

French Connection has launched a competition asking men to try to get a date on Chatroulette as part of its The Man, The Woman campaign. In its own words, the brand is “going boldly where no manly man has gone before”:

The internet poses men a challenge. Can you wade through the virtual minefield of girlie inanity to find the information you crave? Like maps, weather forecasts, virtual newspapers. At MANIFESTO we want to test your internet survivor skills by setting you a chat-based challenge. Can you prove yourself by venturing into the most terrifying terrain on the internet to seduce a woman? Can you conquer the sinister world of Chatroulette?

Sounds simple, right? Wrong. It’s a challenge of fiendish difficulty. In our experience – and we’re pretty handsome – it can take an hour plus to find an actual, real life woman.

If you can prove to have successfully charmed a woman, by copying and pasting your discussion with her into our comments section, we will reward you with beefy praise on MANIFESTO, and the best response will win the vouchers. Remember the challenge is lost as soon as the lady removes herself from your company, so get copying as soon as you have flirtation!

Firstly, I love the tone of French Connection’s blog  MANIFESTO (take note other wannabe fashion blogs) : brilliantly cheeky and immediately appealing to their male audience.

Secondly, this is a great example of a brand riding the crest of a very current web meme and securing some of PR coverage that Chatroulette has been enjoying of late.

Although the competition has been dismissed as ‘rubbish’ by some, I think that this is a truly inspired piece of budget-friendly marketing for French Connection.

Jennifer Roebuck, head of ecommerce and direct marketing at French Connection, said the brand can connect with controversial content because it has an edgy heritage.

“The whole point of the men’s blog is to have content on the topic of manly things while merging in topics that are current, which this fits perfectly,” she said. “In this instance it was the perfect challenge asking men if they’re manly and bold enough to do it. We’re known for being provocative, our heritage comes from this and we’re not afraid to engage with new things.”

French Connection has in Chatroulette found a platform which speaks loudly to its newly defined ‘blokey’ audience. Since dropping its FCUK identity last year, the brand is keen to increase the visibility of its menswear via major social media brand-building.

It seems that the canny French Connection team have got all angles covered:

And if you’re thinking about cheating, we have a crack team of chat-based checkers who will go through every entry and hunt down frauds. If caught, they’ll hunt you down and shame you in the most terrible way known to man. They will tell your mother.

Ha! Brilliant!

(Check out the This Is The Man video on YouTube)