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Coca-Cola-owned Sprite is hopping on the reality show bus with an interactive YouTube channel called "Green Eyed World," which will feature Facebook integration, writes The Wall Street Journal.

Sprite decided to try reaching out to teens with two things they love most - social media and music - and to use the message of pursuing passions as the driving force behind the campaign.

The series, which will follow young pop stars on their quest for fame and fortune, will start May 1 and run through December, consisting of five "seasons," each with four episodes. Each is about four minutes long.

The first episode is on YouTube, showing British singer-songwriter Katie Vogel in her home surrounded by her family. She breaks up with her boyfriend and then erupts into a song - to which the audience is asked to respond.

Sprite also invites users to determine the story line. Users can log into the 'Green Eyed World' Channel on YouTube from Facebook and share information and comments with friends, possibly influencing the course of events. They can also befriend the artist directly from YouTube.

A button embedded on top of the video allows users to and make comments, which will then be published in their news feed on their Facebook profile.

When a vote is conducted, a second button will appear on the screen, and whatever the viewer decides will track back to their profile news feed and the artists "wall" with all vote results.

This is reportedly the first time that YouTube has allowed an on-screen prompt - other than annotations and advertising - and is designed to encourage social interaction around content outside of its own modules (i.e., video response, comment section).

Unlike other additions to YouTube videos, like the call-to-action overlays for non-profits, the prompt will work when the video is embedded in another location, like a social networking profile or blog.

This also represents the first such integration between YouTube and Facebook, said Nicholas Beauchesne, head of media solutions at Google/France at the Marketing 2.0 conference in March. "Facebook is where everyone is, so [YouTube] must also be there," he stated.

The project is spearheaded by Stafford Green, Coca-Cola's head of digital marketing in Europe. According to Coca-Cola Europe, the site will be promoted with a variety of channels, including online promos, TV spots, special packaging on Sprite cans, and live events featuring the artist in some countries.

But Sprite's new approach is risky, since artists are, after all, relatively unknown. And its presence in the video is minimal: the brand name is not constantly flashed across the screen, except for the occasional logos and a final voice-over message that says, "Sprite is the proud sponsor of 'Green Eyed World' and supports Katie Vogel," with the sound of a soda can being opened in the background.

Last year it was found that US online consumers that use social networking services (SNS) like MySpace and Facebook are less receptive to SNS ads click less on SNS ads (57%) than they do on other forms of web advertising (79%), making fewer purchases as a result.

In January filmmakers saw the launch of myProducer.tv, a social media site that gives filmmakers the tools for crowdsourcing and collaboration: personal profiles equipped for blogging, forums, event management, and real-time interaction with peers.