French Connection has the dubious honour of being the first brand to jump feet first into the web’s latest dodgy craze – ChatRoulette. While they are to be lauded for their bold approach, how soon is too soon for advertisers to get involved in brand spanking new unmoderated sites?

For the few who have been living under a rock for the past month and haven’t heard of it – ChatRoulette brings together old fashioned chat rooms, random strangers, webcams and penises. Lots of penises. Upon entering, the site automatically activates the user’s webcam and connects them with a random stranger for live chat. Either party can reject their mate too be paired with someone else. Most connections last about three seconds. On rare occasions, actual conversations take place. Despite being populated primarily by young men, gangs of giggly girls, and middle aged masturbation, the site is strangely addictive. Users are busy taking ownership, using the service to improve language skills, pick up travel tips, liven up a dinner party, make new friends, combat insomnia and get turned on. American band Nurses staged a concert in their living room, connecting with 15 people over a period of 45 minutes. Viewers’ reactions were recorded and will be used to make a music video.

French Connection are reaching out to guys by asking them to submit their attempts to get a date through ChatRoulette. The first guy to prove he’s got a genuine date will win £250 in clothing vouchers. Bravo for taking the bull by the horns and getting involved – and the PR benefit from being the first certainly seems to outweigh any risk of being associated with potentially very dodgy content. With many brands still unsure about how to get involved with “safer” networks like Twitter and Facebook, it’s refreshing to see a company be so proactive.