How to make money from online scam artists

Ever get one of those "Excellent Opportunity!!!!" emails from an alleged Nigerian government official offering millions of bucks?

Me neither, actually. But last year, Rich Siegel, then a group creative director at Young & Rubicam Brands, decided, as the saying goes, to follow the money (and he even left Y&R to do so).

The result is Tuesdays with Mantu, a Borders book (available on Amazon.com), that cannily reprints (along with all the amazingly formal yet bogus documentation) Siegel’s actual (hilarious, insane, and at times, cruel) seven month-long e-mail relationship with one Mr. Ibrahim Mantu. Of course, the man deserves all he gets for offering more than $10 million (from a previous military regime) to Siegel, no strings attached. All Siegel had to do was assist in the transfer of the funds to the United States.

Determined to turn the tables on these Internet crooks, Siegel set up a fake e-mail account in the name of Richard Gosinya, and in the course of the exchange, heard not only from Mantu (a doctor/CPA/petroleum executive who aspires to elected office) but also from one Tajudeen Datti, who has a thing for Celine Dion, Barrister Thankgod Emeka Eze, and the lovelorn Mariam Abacha (widow of distinguished African General Sani Abacha.) It’s all in the book, which reads like a cross between Monty Python and the letters of Don Novello, Nigerian pidgin English version.

And by the ending, lest you think Siegel gets kind of vitriolic, the author is generously offering half of all book royalties to his Web of Nigerian email pals. All they need to do is apply for an American visa and meet him at 419 Tinkerbell Lane, Fantasyland, Disneyworld, USA.

—Posted by Barbara Lippert

Published on February 28, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (8)
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This rabbit's in a fine stew

With Easter coming early this year, AdFreak thought it only appropriate to spotlight Toby the Bunny, the floppy-eared protagonist of SaveToby.com. Toby, a straw-colored bunny rescued several months ago after a brawl with an alley cat (seen here in a pot), is the fluffy-footed friend often dreamed up by authors of children’s books. Considering his once-desperate plight, Toby himself might be content with a lifetime supply of rabbit pellets and a box of kitty litter;  his owner wants Toby to live like a king.

That’s why, his rescuer explains, he is asking visitors to the site to each contribute one dollar toward a $50,000 ransom – or HE WILL EAT HIM! In his own words, “On June 30th, 2005, Toby will die. I am going to take Toby to a butcher to have him slaughter this cute little bunny. I will then prepare Toby for a mid-summer feast.”

Now, I really have no problem with eating rabbits. They’re delicious, doc. But nursing the beast to health just to slaughter him, and naming him to boot? That’s twisted. The site not only includes an open letter to donors, but also a page full of rabbit recipes and photos of Toby on a plate filled with lettuce and carrots, in a boiling pot and on a cutting board.

Toby’s owner seems to have some qualms about the whole thing. “I don’t want to eat Toby, he is my friend and has always been the most loving adorable pet” the letter says. “However, god as my witness, I will devour this little guy unless I get $50,000 USD.” As of Feb. 26, Toby’s owner has raised over $16,380. Not a bad booty. But with June fast approaching, I'd start fattening Toby up right quick. You’re not going to get much meat off that sucker.

—Posted by Deanna Zammit

Published on February 28, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (3)

Oscar nominee! You're playing for an Amana range!

We always appreciate attempts by the folks at the Oscars to breathe some new life into the tired Academy Awards format; still, one of the innovations on last night’s show made us think we were watching Let’s Make a Deal instead of the most glamorous annual event in Hollywood, with Jeremy Irons playing the part of Monty Hall (pictured at right). Irons, and Laura Linney, were asked to give awards away from the aisles, which struck us as cheesy, not to mention denigrating to the categories which got the “in-the-seats” treatment. (Imagine Best Actor being handled this way.) We know it made the show move along faster—as did, for some categories, putting all of the nominees up on the stage before the award was announced—but rather than coming off as new, innovative ways to make the Oscars more interesting to watch, and to show more nominees, they just seemed like techniques to rush some of the less interesting categories off the program.

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Published on February 28, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)

Friends forever (or just for now)

Remember when making friends was easy? So asks Social Circles, a New York social-networking group that organizes trips, activities and get-togethers. In a few commercials now airing from Mad Injection, the improv-fueled Mad Dogs & Englishmen spinoff, full-grown men race to the top of a playground slide—“Last one to the top pays for mojitos!”—and negotiate lunchtime sandwich trades. Actually, AdFreak doesn’t remember when making friends was easy, which is why we’re huddled behind our computer at 7 p.m. on a Friday night instead of enjoying a pre-night-club-hopping nap. Of course, it didn’t help that Mom used to pack cream cheese and Marmite sandwiches and only let us stay up long enough to watch Wheel Of Fortune. Bitter childhood memories aside, we marvel at the mileage Mad Injection creative chief Mikal Reich can get out of staffers, close friends and improv associates by casting them in his ads. (Even Reich himself appears in a spot.) Improvers come cheap, at least until they make it big as a talking head on The Best Week Ever.

—Posted by Deanna Zammit

Published on February 28, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Advertising's new wrinkle

Splenda’s under fire for calling itself sugar, Blockbuster for promoting its end to late fees, and McDonald’s for not advertising how unhealthy its food can actually be. Is there a new movement growing to put truth in advertising? A category rife for the picking is the $29 billion beauty industry, which spends about $6 billion in the U.S. to advertise all sorts of cosmetics, creams and perfumes. Wrinkles can be “prevented” or “disappear” in a day, sometimes even faster, spider veins can fade and cellulite reduced. It seems beauty products, from cheap store brands to luxury bottles, are making loftier claims every day. Maybe the products are actually getting better and we are getting closer to creating a real fountain of youth. But talk to a dermatologist and they’ll likely tell you most of the products can do none of the miracle work their packaging and advertising claim. And the fancy botanicals and scientific-sounding extras hardly make the difference. Funny thing is that most women I know still buy the product with the loftier price tag. Sometimes when it comes to aging, denial is the way to go, or at least—when it comes to advertising—fudging the truth.

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on February 28, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Welcome the hybrid taxis

It’s a new excuse: Sorry, I was on my way in, but my cab’s battery ran out! San Francisco has become the first city in the nation to feature hybrid SUVs as taxis. Last week, mayor Gavin Newsom announced that two cab companies bought 15 Ford Escapes like the one shown here to add to the fleet of 1,500 taxis citywide. The switch is saving cab drivers a lot of cash at the gas pump. Now if only those savings could be passed along to the passengers. After all, according to a survey done last year, San Francisco is the most expensive city in the country in which to take a cab ride.

—Posted by Celeste Ward

Published on February 28, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Restoration and remembrance

The ad community is helping take part in a restoration project in Birmingham, Ala., the scene of some of the most violent incidents of the civil-rights movement. Lewis Communications, an independent Birmingham shop with about $60 million in annual billings, has donated three print ads (a detail from one is shown here) to help raise money for the $3.8 million restoration of the landmark Sixteenth Avenue Baptist Church. The 130-year-old church was bombed by Ku Klux Klan members on a Sunday morning in 1963, killing four young black girls in a Bible study class. It took 38 years to find and convict the two men responsible, both now serving life in prison. The restoration effort is led by Carolyn McKinstry, who was in the Bible class that day, as president of the foundation formed for the project. The restoration of the church, which had fallen into extreme disrepair, has united blacks and whites in the city, McKinstry said. “We have heard from almost everyone,” McKinstry said in a written statement. “A lot of positive relations will remain as we have moved from a city divided in 1963 to a city united.”

—Posted by Jim Lovel

Published on February 25, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Party lines and the Oscars

Fahrenheit 9/11 isn't the only one of last year's movies about which Democrats and Republicans differ. They also can't agree on which Academy Award nominee ought to win the Best Picture award. In a new Harris Poll, a plurality of Democrats (29 percent) picked Ray as the film that ought to win. Million Dollar Baby was a distant second (17 percent), just ahead of The Aviator (16 percent). Among Republicans, The Aviator edged out Ray (25 percent vs. 22 percent), with nothing else registering in double digits. (Readers may insert their own jokes about Republicans' natural affinity for a billionaire industrial mogul.) Given Hollywood's political leanings, it's no surprise that Democrats were less likely than Republicans to answer "none of these" or "not sure" (23 percent of Democrats vs. 35 percent of Republicans) when asked to pick a deserving Best Picture nominee. 

—Posted by Mark Dolliver

Published on February 25, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)

A chilly reception

The upfront is a time media buyers are plied with food, drink and schwag. The Weather Channel is taking the ritual in a slightly different and colder direction on March 12, when it will bring together ad honchos for presentations at Quebec’s Ice Hotel.

The gimmick is to impress on advertisers that The Weather Channel is pretty serious about weather, serious enough to pitch them in frigid conditions. In a promise (or threat), The Weather Channel says it will acquaint advertisers with weather in a “very dramatic way” by spending a night in the 30,000 square foot igloo, sleeping on beds made of blocks of ice. The Ice Hotel says room temperatures rarely dip below 23 degrees. That’s Fahrenheit. Perhaps in a nod to the Geneva Convention, heated bathroom facilities are available.

The Weather Channel has plenty of activities planned to keep its hardy media folks warm, including dogsled races, snowmobiling and, of course, ice-sculpting lessons.

—Posted by Brian Morrissey

Photo credit: Xavier Dachez

Published on February 25, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Food for dogs or panacea for humans?

As a proud owner of TiVo, I rarely watch commercials anymore. But sometimes, as a professional courtesy, I will force myself to watch an entire hour-long broadcast, ads and all. It's good to know what's out there, in the way of new creative and new products. And last night, I've found another entry in the "do we really need this product?" category.

It seems dog food maker Iams, which is owned by Procter & Gamble, has created a new sauce to put on dry dog food to make it taste better. The spot reminded me of the old Gravy Train dry food, which promised a gravy-like substance when a little water was added to the food.

As a dog owner, I have been known to spoil my dog with silly treats and toys (like ice cream). I was even a frequent customer of Three Dog Bakery before it shut down in Chicago. But this strikes me as plain old going too far. Considering that the dog next door has been known to eat poop, I don't think bacon-flavored savory sauce is going to make much of a difference.

According to this site, dogs have far fewer taste buds than humans (but more than cats), though their keener sense of smell may contribute to some taste preferences. Either way, this product seems more designed for humans who can't stomach the idea of eating dried pellets every day.

Luckily, I'll be back to my TiVo tonight so I won't have to resist the urge to buy things my dog doesn't need.

—Posted by Aaron Baar

Photo credit: Iams

Published on February 24, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Off the Wal-Mart

Enterprising college students have found a new way to utilize the vast expanses of their local Wal-Mart: to play games. According to a story that ran in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal (if you have a sub, you can click here to read it), college kids from Arizona to Indiana to Pennsylvania have invented games that involve use of Wal-Mart’s aisles, shopping carts and merchandise. A spokesperson for the company said she was unaware of the use of Wal-Marts as sporting venues.

According to the story, at Northern Arizona University, teams play something called “10 in 10”, in which “two teams each spend 10 minutes putting 10 items in a shopping cart. The carts are turned over to the opposing teams which have to figure out where the items came from and return them to the shelves where they belong.”

And, the story continues, at Indiana’s Taylor University (where premarital sex, drinking and drugs are prohibited), students have played a scavenger hunt game called, “A to Z” in which “the team that first finds an item for every letter of the alphabet wins.” Other college Wal-Mart sports include “aisle football” and  “relay race limbo under the shopping-cart stand.”

There’s no evidence that any of the players actually buy anything, but we’re sure there’s a marketing opportunity here … somewhere. If you can think of one, please share it with us.

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Published on February 24, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Back in place

Is anyone else noticing the bizarre and sudden re-emergence on network TV of cast members of Melrose Place—many of whom, until recently, only seemed to live in reruns?

Everyone knows about the whole Marcia Cross thing—the fate of each of the wives on Desperate Housewives is more or less impossible to miss, even if you’ve never seen an episode of the show. But the husbands and/or significant others haven’t received as much play, which means you may not have noticed that one of them is Doug Savant, who had a five-year run on Melrose as Matt Fielding. And then there’s Grant Show, now appearing on Fox’s Point Pleasant. We’re not really including Heather Locklear and Courtney Thorne-Smith in this group, since both have had their share of successful series since Melrose closed up in 1999. (True, Locklear’s LAX was cancelled earlier this season.)

Now, if someone can just track down Andrew Shue and Daphne Zuniga, the Melrose comeback will be complete.

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Photo: ABC

Published on February 24, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (6)

Here's to older imbibers

Numerous studies have found evidence that moderate drinking boosts longevity . Now, some new research, as summarized on the HealthScout Web site, suggests the reverse is also true: Increased longevity (plus better health among geezers) is giving a boost to drinking.  Historically, drinkers have reduced their alcohol intake as they age. While that's still true, "new research suggests recent generations of older Americans are cutting back just a little less than their parents did." The researchers speculate that "better access to health care and improved general health may mean today's 'young old' feel they can get away with a little more drinking than their parents did at the same age." (For those of you who subscribe to the American Journal of Public Health, the full study is reported in that publication's March issue. Alcohol marketers will doubtless work to capitalize on this phenomenon, perhaps positioning an aperitif as the perfect complement to a retiree's early-bird special.

—Posted by Mark Dolliver

Photo credit: Brand X/Getty Images

Published on February 24, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ain't this a fine pickle?

When is a pickle not a pickle? When it's confused with, uh, well look at this ad for Ivanabitch vodka and we've every confidence you can figure it out.

According to Empire Communications Group, the ad agency for Ivanabitch, the campaign has now found itself in a pickle (OK, we simply had to throw that in), because Viacom Outdoor and Clear Channel Outdoor have both banned the ads in the brand's launch state of Florida. “These companies interpreted the pickle to be phallic,” said Pete Helow, a seemingly amazed managing partner at Empire, in this release. In fact, accompanying radio ads have also been banned, says the company, because they involve a woman saying she prefers her vodka "with a pickle."

As for Helow's amazement, he says he was caught with his (oh let's not go there) because the intention of the ads is to introduce Americans to the way Russians drink vodka—with a pickle. Having never been there, we honestly don't know, but several posts from this forum on Russia.com support his contention. But whether the pickle is meant to be served straight up, like the vodka, isn't really explained.

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Published on February 23, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (3)

Cruise control

We don’t know about you, but we’re a little concerned about Tom Cruise’s latest act of altruism. The movie star appears so attentive of his co-workers on the set of his new epic film, Steven Spielberg’s  remake of War of the Worlds, that he’s set up a Scientology tent. Manning the booth is a minister of the religion, volunteering his time.

Don’t people have their chance to convert all the time when Scientologists passing out pamphlets practically chase people down on Hollywood Boulevard and in Times Square?

And what if Cruise’s Scientology brethren John Travolta, Kirstie Alley and Lisa Marie Presley follow suit? But we digress. The act has caught the attention of veteran cult-watcher and enemy of religious sects all around, Rick Ross, who has received complaints from people on the crew according to this story in New York magazine.

—Posted by Celeste Ward

Published on February 23, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Point not-so-Pleasant

"Step right up. Find a spot in the sun. Form your own special groove in the sand. Let the sun cloak your body in warmth. Relax and feel the magic of the Greater Point Pleasant Area!!" That's the invite on a Web site for the real Point Pleasant, N.J., not the town portrayed on the Fox show of the same name, which has become AdFreak's first appointment TV in many years. Why? Because we always suspected there was something sinister about New Jersey long before The Sopranos, and this show affirms our deepest fears. Its creators have decided that the anti-Christ could very well be female and that the setting for Armageddon will be this beach town just two hours south of New York City. Get ready to partaaay!

Even though we're grateful that everyone in the show is astonishingly good-looking, we're equally thankful that they're pretty good actors, too, making this series a cut above the mindless teen fare served up the same night. But what really intrigues us, since we're adults (or at least try to act like ones in real life), is the way the show explores what Hannah Arendt called “the banality of evil,” as illustrated by Lucas Boyd (Grant Show)—or, in the case of these characters, the simple manipulation of human frailties. 

—Posted by Kathleen Sampey

Photo credit: Fox

Published on February 23, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

The growing ‘Sideways’ cult

It came as no suprise to us that pinot noir sales are up thanks to Sideways. We saw the movie twice, but even the first time around it made us want to a) drink lots of wine and b) flock to California wine country. It was something about how the camera soaked up the Santa Ynez Valley, and how the characters in turn gazed admiringly at glass after glass of pinot noir. All this and witty, cutting dialogue spoken by actors who resemble real drunken losers. So it came as no surprise when The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the not-so-chic wine region 80 miles north of Los Angeles is a) attracting tons of weekenders and b) said weekenders are packing restaurants from the movie (Hitching Post) and reciting lines of dialogue (“If anyone orders merlot, I’m leaving. I am not drinking any fucking merlot!”). (The Journal story, of course, is subscription-only, but you can get the idea of the trend by reading this story from the Chicago Sun-Times.)

The Journal compares the phenomenon to a “grown-up version” of how devotees responded to The Rocky Horror Picture Show or what Urban Cowboy did for Gilley’s. But for pure alcohol-dialogue satisfaction, AdFreak points to Dennis Hopper’s full-lung exclamation in Blue Velvet: “Heineken? Fuck that shit! Pabst Blue Ribbon!” We can’t count the number of times we have seen that David Lynch freak show, and years ago we even threw a Blue Velvet party, decorating our living room with a string of empty Pabst cans. Can Sideways wine-a-thons be far behind? Don’t forget your Barely Legal.

—Posted by Andrew McMains

Credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Published on February 23, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)

A boomer hero for all time

He was a kind of designated driver in reverse. Aging baby boomers counted on Hunter S. Thompson to behave with adolescent recklessness, decade after decade, even as they reconciled themselves to sober adulthood. And he didn’t let them down. Until his death this past weekend, I can’t recall the last time I heard anyone mention anything Thompson had written in the previous 20 years. Yet the outpouring of obituaries and “appreciations” made it clear that Thompson-as-gonzo-character had continued to occupy a significant place in the boomer consciousness. (Born in 1937, Thompson himself was pre-boomer.) Quoted in the Los Angeles Times, Tom Wolfe noted that Thompson “not only wrote about but personified the wild personal freedom that began in the 1960s.” Just as important, boomers could compliment themselves on having been savvy enough to appreciate an oddball like Thompson in the first place. That side of the story is implicit in The New York Times’ obit: “At his peak Mr. Thompson reached out in his writing to a generation made cynical by the Vietnam War and the Watergate political scandal and that was prepared to respond to Mr. Thompson’s visceral honesty, his creative blend of fact and fantasy, his rage at convention and power.” Boomers may no longer be in peak form when it comes to responding to visceral honesty et al., but they’re always happy to reminisce about their past triumphs.

—Posted by Mark Dolliver

Photo: Paul Harris Online USA/Getty Images/Newscom

Published on February 23, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Pass the pinot

It looks like the Oscar-nominated movie Sideways, which features a character obsessed with pinot noir, has led to a spike in sales of the red wine, according to ACNielsen (which is a distant relative of AdFreak). Though pinot has been growing in popularity, the release of the movie last fall caused an abrupt boost in sales, which rose by close to 16 percent, or 370,000 cases, for the three months ending Jan. 15. We like the fact that none of pinot noir’s Sideways success has come through a strategic product-placement deal, giving us hope that not all of our purchasing decisions will be driven in future by money that changed hands in the name of marketing.

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Published on February 23, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Cleared for takeoff

A few years back, search consultancy Pile and Co. told Conover Tuttle that it wasn’t ready for the big time. “They were very helpful, but they basically let us know we hadn’t reached the stage as an agency where they thought we were ready for some of the reviews they were doing,” says Chip Tuttle. “They said, Get back to us when you are.” Earlier this month, when it came time to get back in touch, the Lynnfield, Mass., independent, now known as Conover Tuttle Pace, decided to have a little fun by taking out a billboard in Boston’s North End, with an inside joke aimed at Pile and the ad community. The board has the headline, “Pile and Company said we needed a higher profile. Is this high enough?”

“We figured this was one way to let them know we thought we were at that stage,” says Tuttle, adding that the agency wanted Pile to view the billboard “with a wry chuckle.” The board—one of the highest in Boston—will be up for about a month. “They took it in the right spirit,” says Tuttle. “We’ve got a meeting with them in a couple of weeks.”

—Posted by Lisa van der Pool

Published on February 23, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

The next brand castaways

What do Procter & Gamble, Home Depot and General Motors have in common? You’d never know it from last week’s premiere, but all three have product-integration deals in the latest installment of Survivor. There were no products in episode one, however, although a rep for the show says it isn’t unusual for them to be integrated later in the series. Exactly which products will the castaways use? “We don’t want to ruin the surprise,” says the rep. Still, the producers didn’t have a problem leaking word that one team’s island will be over-run with rats. Lovely. Perhaps the survivors will use the Victor brand rat traps (“appealing peanut butter scent”) offered on Home Depot’s Web site to take care of the little buggers. And what better bait than P&G brand Pringles potato chips? A Home Depot rep didn’t return a call for comment (probably the last time that will happen). Pringles have been featured in earlier installments on the show, although a rep there couldn’t confirm they’d be in the current series. Or perhaps the castaways could crush the rodent hoard—in style!—with one of GM’s sporty Corvettes or SSRs that will be featured in the broadcast. Zoom zoom! Oops, that’s another brand isn’t it?

—Posted by Steve McClellan

Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS

Published on February 22, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is your brain in L.A.

If you’re looking for a fun time waster, check out the L.A. Ad Game, an online game/ promo for the Belding Awards. The intro shows Lee Clow, Rob Schwartz, Eric Hirshberg and David Angelo playing the game—in states of glory and agony. The game itself is one enormous in-joke for the Southern California ad set. To play, you spin and advance your colored, squishy brain around a clogged clover leaf, replete with local SIG alerts. Each square has a goofy message: “Figure out which ‘clients’ to put on expense report.” “ ‘Lose’ brief.” “Switch to fancy moleskin notebook.” “Realize you already did it for another client. Lose a turn.” “Can ‘we’ make the copy bigger? Go back 5.” The game even has some Easter eggs: When you land on “Listen to other creatives bitch and moan,” the game sticks you there for a couple of spins. When you win, you’re advised to “go get a drink.” “It’s bigger than a promotional piece,” says Schwartz. “The game shows the universality of the pain and suffering that we all go through for the sake of art and commerce.”

Schwartz, now in his sophomore year of chairing the Beldings, is unruffled by the antics at last year’s show, when the awards night at the House of Blues became an uproarious, drunken bash at the bars, even as the winners were being presented to empty seats by L.A. ad icons such as auto dealer Cal Worthington and Cerritos Auto Square celebrity Super Dave Osborne. “People are over the pomp and circumstance of award shows,” says Schwartz. “They love the work, which is local work of national quality, but they more want to be around other advertising people. L.A. is unique that way. It’s a far-flung empire, not a central hub like New York. So we have to expect it to become a party.”

—Posted by Gregory Solman

Published on February 22, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

The king of ginseng?

"It ain't beer." Those were the first words out of my husband's mouth after trying Bud Extra. I dragged him along with me into the AdFreak Test Labs,where we gamely volunteer to try new products so that you don't have to. You may recall that the new brew, which is rolling out nationally, contains "caffeine, ginseng and guarana extract and natural flavor." If the taste was a little peculiar, so was the packaging. We could pick it up only in a four-pack of 10-ounce cans (for $3.99 at the local Stop & Shop).

Then there was the bouquet, which seemed to bear touches of cherry reminiscent of a watered-down Cherry Coke—or Sucrets. Yet the carbonated, beer-like consistency left me and my husband confused. Feels like beer; tastes like Sucrets.

Our conclusion? Since we've never tasted anything quite like it, we think Bud Extra—like its sibling brands—is certainly the king of something. Like maybe an uninhabitable island.

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Published on February 22, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)

Gates-ploitation, part trois

We’re hoping you were too busy this weekend—perhaps visiting Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s “Gates” themselves—to notice "Gates" parodies (and really funny ones) have sprung up on the Internet. Saturday’s New York Times introduced us to two such art installations, “The Somerville Gates” (pictured above), and “The Crackers", featuring those cheese crackers with the peanut butter inside we used to wolf down when our palate was less refined (at left). We never had thought of those crackers as being saffron-colored, but the verisimilitude, or whatever, between the Gates and those crackers, um, cracked us up.

But there are others, such as this one we found on BoingBoing. Both "The Somerville Gates"—created by a man in his apartment in Somerville, Mass.—and “The Crackers” had a shelf-life so brief they make Christo’s 16-day installation seem as durable as The Fantastiks. "The Somerville Gates" were only “up” until the cleaning lady came, and “The Crackers” was fed to Central Park ducks roughly a half-hour after it was unveiled.

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Published on February 21, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Golden arches, meet GoldenPalace

Grease just met sleaze in the form of the … Lincoln Fry.

As you may know the Lincoln Fry—purported to look like Abe Lincoln—was the centerpiece of a McDonald’s viral marketing effort that also included ads on the not-so-viral Super Bowl. Anyway, McDonald’s put the Lincoln Fry up for auction on Yahoo!, and it was bought by the classy folks at GoldenPalace.com, the online casino, which, in recent weeks also bought the advertising rights to Shaune Bagwell’s chest (she’s the ex-wife of Jeff Bagwell).

The price? $75,100, according to this story on CNN.com. The money is slated to go to Ronald McDonald House charities, which is great. But we can’t help but wonder if a bizarre corporate connection to a company that proudly states on its home page that it has advertised on a pregnant woman’s belly was what McDonald’s had in mind.

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Published on February 18, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)