Teen YouTube sensation cashes in with ads and product placement

By Greg Sandoval on 17 November 2008, 12:46pm

Lucas Cruikshank is to user-generated video what Tiger Woods was to golf or what Bobby Fischer was to chess when they were teenagers. Not only has he risen to fame in a field dominated by adults, but he has managed to turn that success into cold, hard cash.

The 15-year old creator of the YouTube series Fred has become Internet video's hottest prodigy since last month, when the Fred channel amassed the most subscribers (585,506) on YouTube. He now has more than 645,000. Since launching six months ago, Fred clips have been watched more than 125 million times. With such a huge fan base, it is no wonder advertisers are hankering for a slice of his airtime.

The series makes fun of some YouTube video bloggers that Cruikshank considers self-important. Fred is a fictitious teen with anger management problems, a strange voice, and a father serving time in jail. Cruikshank, a Nebraska native, has parlayed his Web success into cash.

Since agreeing to slip products, including the Zipit text-messaging gadget, into his videos as part of product-placement deals he has been generating revenue from his series. An aspiring actor, the teen has also appeared in commercials for the Zipit device and will appear in an upcoming Nickelodeon show. "I've had meetings with movie studios," he told me. "Some people even want to turn Fred into a TV show or movie."

Walking through the NewTeeVee Live conference venue in San Francisco on Thursday, Cruikshank was approached by numerous executives who asked to exchange cards with him. He is barely old enough for acne but Cruikshank appears the user-gen generation's version of a Hollywood player.

Talk to Cruikshank and one gets the impression his success is no accident. He's sharp and witty and isn't intimidated by adults in suits. During an interview with NewTeeVee's Chris Albrecht in front of hundreds of conference attendees, Cruikshank got some laughs after he was asked by a man about what kind of CPM, or advertising revenue, his clips were generating.

"I bet you would like to know that," Cruikshank said. He waited a beat before adding: "But I'm not going to tell you."