Willy Wonka would be proud.

This summer, Nestle USA has rewritten the rules for its internship program, now dubbed the “Funtern” program.

While regular interns may run the copy machine and stuff envelopes, funterns spend their time schmoozing on Facebook and MySpace for the Glendale-based unit of the giant Swiss food company.

But there is a business purpose: promoting a video contest for Butterfinger, the peanut butter-flavored candy bar.

“This is what these guys do for fun, and now they’re doing it for the brand,” said Daniel Jhung, the marketing manager who developed the program.

The four funterns, each based in a major U.S. city, produce short YouTube videos playing off the theme of the contest, which is how far people will go to protect a Butterfinger bar, whether kung-fu fighting or hiring a superhero bodyguard.

Other tasks include manning the Butterfinger Twitter site and posting blogs about the contest.

A.J. Mayers, the 22-year-old L.A. funtern, calls it a “unique opportunity that meshes the corporate world with social networking.”

And unlike most interns, he couldn’t complain about his pay from the program.

“It provides a stipend and a supply of Butterfinger bars to last a whole year,” Mayers said.