For those of you who are unfamiliar, Second Life is a virtual world where you can create an avatar, own virtual land, exchange virtual currency, and build all sorts of virtual things.  Different from a typical multi-user role playing game, in Second Life you have no guiding objective -- it's less a game than it is an environment for creating whatever pleases you.

Because your avatar doesn't need to eat, you don't really have any basic needs that need to be fulfilled.  Instead, time in SL is spent exploring, chatting with other avatars, and exchanging land and various in-world creations that people -- yourself or others -- have made.

I spent the evening looking at the SL presence for as many major brands as I could find.  I'm sure I've missed a few, but this is a fairly good representation of what real world advertisers are doing in the virtual world space.  From a creative standpoint, it's not hard to see why advertisers are so interested in exploring Second Life's possibilities.  There aren't a lot of creative or physical limitations inherent in the environment, so it's a unique opportunity to present a brand in an entirely new context.

So, without further ado, here is the massive list of real world brands that are currently participating in the virtual world of Second Life.  Enjoy.