I tried to find an English version of the Cisco “Human Network” ad featuring a skateboard manufacturer, but all I could find was this one:

First there’s a prototype; they get feedback from skateboarders in Austin TX that the front of the board is incorrectly shaped; then feedback from Gundaroo Australia that the wheelbase is incorrect; then skaters in Venice Beach CA show them how to paint it. Finally, the design team celebrates “their” new design.

WTF?

Who are the real “designers?”

Who will get credit for the design, in the eyes of the consumer?

Who is gonna get rich off of this skateboard design?

What other situations can we name, where the bulk of design or content work is done by unpaid volunteers, and the persons, um, “facilitating” the volunteers are the ones getting all the credit and taking all the money?