Put yourself into the new Plain White T's video

OK, the jaded side of us understands that this whole thing is driven by marketers and PR people who are really starting to get how this whole Interweb thing works. But the romantic side of us can’t help but gush a little at the Plain White Ts’ sweetly tuneful new song, “1,2,3,4,” the beautiful wintertime footage of Chicago in the video and the cute way you can now add yourself to the video just in time for a lil’ Valentine’s Day dedication. Hey, it makes Chi town look good and it scores us a few love points. It’s win-win.

The backstory, from the crafty PR people: “This past December, Plain White Ts vocalist Tom Higgenson and director Mike Venezia hit the streets of Chicago to shoot a quick, inexpensive video (‘just something fun to throw on YouTube,’ says Higgenson) for new single ‘1,2,3,4.’ … Shot in 18-degree weather, the video follows Higgenson around his hometown of Chicago as he busks for passing couples. Captions identify each couple, along with tidbits about how and when they met. ‘We were armed with only a camera and a guitar,’ says Higgenson. ‘ “1,2,3,4” is a simple love song, and so we wanted to capture various love stories throughout Chicago.’

The hook: You can (a) make your sweetheart swoon and (b) help this local band’s video go totally viral by hitting the video’s Web page and personalizing it with your own photos and captions. The interface is easy to use, then you can send the video to your loved one (or your desired loved one). Easy, cheesy, not sleazy.