Interweb the Rainbow.

In a very literal take on "user-generated content," Skittles has almost completely placed its brand image in the hands of web users. The candy's home page is now its Facebook page, choosing any of the products directs you to Wikipedia, and "Chatter" is a stream of any and all Tweets including the word Skittles.

It must be said that Modernista! used this same tactic before Skittles. However, as a service rather than a consumer product, far fewer people come in contact with their site (or rather collective of sites). While a risky endeavor (anyone can say anything about your brand), it has more people talking about Skittles and in greater detail than they probably have before. Like, ever.
Sure, the novelty will wear off, but the level of interaction between the brand and its consumer has been drastically escalated. My question is whether or not this change (and the buzz surrounding it) is reaching the majority of the audience. The internet-using crowd is obviously all over it, but does that transfer to mainstream knowledge? If so, will that majority of users understand what they are seeing when they get to the Skittles home page/Facebook page?

Whether or not it succeeds as a marketing model, make sure you join in on the fun of the ". . . because of Skittles" meme while you can.