First came the open source web browser. Now comes the open source ad campaign. Today’s NY Times features a 2 page Firefox ad that features, and was paid for, by thousands of people who use and/or helped to build the product.

Think about this for a second. Massive companies spend years doing everything they can to come up with a lifestyle product; a product that almost becomes part of the personality of those who own it. This is powerful because the product owners then become the evangelists and help to grow sales. A community forms around a product. It’s rare. It’s huge.

In the case of Firefox, a community that developed around a certain lifestyle actually built the product. First came the community, then came the need, then came the answer, then came the product, then came the marketing.

Welcome to Generation We.