Walmart does UGC

http://www.nma.co.uk/Articles/28618/Wal-Mart+to+base+ads+on+user-generated+content.html

this article (may require password) - shows how businesses are jumping into the UGC arena to ensure that they (a) get a foot in the door (b) use it to involve people more in the brand (c) hopefully lower content production costs if a bulk of the content comes in from audiences for some of these ads. It talks about WalMart asking users to submit videos from users, which can be used in WalMart advertising.

Sainsbury's also insists that they're doing user generated content (see this NMA article) but it's hard to understand how this is different from good old discussion forums and message boards?

Is user generated content actually different? I suppose for it to be seriously considered "content" it needs to be something which attracts a sizeable audience and is distinct from user forums for Sainsbury's products and services. i.e. People should be coming to see the content itself, and distinct from shopping at Sainsburys. Tom Sawyer has been cited as one of the earliest examples of user generated content.

So you first need to get "content" right before doing user generated content. Measurement or reports of such content seems to be harder to come by, so the jury, as they say, is out on this.