Now, what you're saying about this seems sensible, and so far I agree with you.

But I have to add that I think events like these, show old media (and the general public) that new media is much more powerful and deserves more credit. It also shows that old media shouldn't be so stubborn and change, go with their time instead of desperately trying to hold on to the old, or else they'll die eventually.
A lot of companies try, but they don't seem to get it. They throw money at it, but on the internet, eventually this won't work because the power is in the people's hands. The internet is basically free (charging people won't work very well most of the time, except for porn maybe), and if you don't give the visitors what they want, they simply close the page, forget about it and move to another website that fits their needs.

Events like this highlight the power of the internet – whether that's entirely the case is secondary.
And think about it: the internet has only been mainstream for a few years. There is such a long way to go. It would be nearly impossible to have such a big impact on 'real life' at this time without involving old media AT ALL, simply because most people don't understand how revolutionizing the internet really is. (This is why I think ChartJackers is amazing.) We are internet savvy, but it's events like RATM vs. Joe that makes the other people aware and it might move them to become more active.

Second, the RATM campaign had a villain. Two interconnected villains in fact. Simon Cowell and X-Factor. There was a lot of pent-up rage ready to be unleashed against those machines.

The Mortons picked the perfect band to carry the anti-Cowell banner: “Rage Against the Machine For Christmas No.1″ is a perfect headline. The name of the band incorporates the call to action. Brilliant. The lyrics of the song contain the rallying cry. The video makes the target explicit. Do you think a Facebook page, titled “Chartjackers For Christmas No. 1″ would have the same weight? Compared to “Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me,” you got nothing.

Internetty folks like to imagine that the Internet is the world. It ain't. Yeah, the net is powerful. It's growing. We're all connected to it and engaged with it. It's made many things possible that were inconceivable twenty years ago. And it will only get stronger. But it's not a self-contained universe. It's a dynamic set of pathways in the real universe.

The irony, of course is that RATM is signed to the same label (Sony) as Joe. This little campaign only make Simon Cowell richer. Moohahahaha.

and i might as well make this comment super-uber-long and mention something related to the actual post, so here 'tis: the chartjackers project was a great idea, and from what i can tell even though you didn't make it to number 1 it was still a big success. the music business really is being revolutionized, and i think it's a stupendous thing. so kudos to all four of you guys for being such awesome people!! (plus, bbc called you “the ladies' man of youtube”. that's gotta be worth something. ;D)