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"The popular photo-sharing app Instagram, less than six months out from its launch, just cut its largest media partnership deal yet: A contest that will put one user's photo in the finale of NCIS: Los Angeles.\nThe contest is called \"Flaunt Your City\" and runs from today until April 1. Instagram users are invited to submit pictures of \"unique or iconic locales\" in their hometown. The CBS show's producers and cast, including Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J (both Instagram users), will choose their favorite photo. The winner will be integrated into the NCIS: Los Angeles finale on May 17.\nInstagram has had partnerships with major brands already, most notably Lipton Brisk (which is putting user pictures on the side of ice tea cans) and NPR. When Instagram started letting users add hashtags to pictures, it was overtly intended to make it easier for brands to use the service to launch campaigns.\nBut the CBS deal is another order of magnitude for the young company, whose 2 million users share nearly 300,000 photos daily. NCIS: Los Angeles is the number-two most-watched scripted show on TV, with roughly 18 million viewers every week.\nAnd while integrating an Instagram snapshot in a plot doesn't exactly count as product placement \u2014 it's not as if Instagram brands its pictures \u2014 a contest like this will bring the service to a whole new audience. Meanwhile, the Tiffany Network gets to look a little more cool in the eyes of the hipster digerati.\n\"It's a one-of-a-kind partnership that expands what social media means to business today, and we're glad to be part of it,\" Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom said in a statement. \"We can't wait to browse the gorgeous photos viewers will send in of their hometown.\"\nFurther details and rules of the contest are on the NCIS: LA Facebook Page."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2011/03/10/instagram-ncis/>