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More And More Companies Want To Buy Your Selfie

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Ellen's famous Oscar selfie crashed Twitter.

Vice President Joe Biden posted his first selfie with his boss.

We've even seen the occasional papal selfie.

And now, there's a way for consumers to cash in on their own self-portraits.

"I never thought that I could just sell a picture myself and make 50 bucks," said Cynthia Houser, who was paid for her selfie.

Houser sold her selfie through a new app called "Scoopshot."

It's one of several brands, like soft drinks or airlines, go to ask consumers to take selfies with their products.

If they like what they see, they offer to buy them.

"We do all the clearing," said Scoopshot founder Petri Rahja. "So the photographer gets his or her money and the media gets rights to use the photo."

Rahja says it's a growing idea.

"We are seeing more and more brands engaging consumers," Rahja says, "Your Coca-Cola moment, please send your photos in, or like Finnair."

Finnair, Finland's largest airline, asked Scoopshot users to send in travel selfies.

They ended up purchasing about 50 of the 800 selfies that were submitted, for about $15 each.

A cosmetics company gave $1,000 to a selfie contest winner.

McDonalds paid just more than $20 for food-focused selfies.

And a hotel in Puerto Rico held a selfie sweepstakes, with the winner getting a free weekend stay.

"There's a whole lot of money to be made in our own image," said Craig Hacker with Selfies For Profit 2.

Hacker took a selfie at a recent furniture trade show in New York City.

The hearth fireplace company happened to be offering a free dinner at a New York restaurant as the prize.

The company CEO says it's a new, exciting way to engage customers.

"Wanted to do something fun for people who are at the show to bring some attention to our product, but also to engage someone on a one-on-one basis," said Hearth Cabinets President Arthur Lasky.

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