Barry Diller does not enjoy the Big Shocker How should one react when getting the Big Shocker? Barry Diller asked himself that after inheriting the product when IAC purchased CollegeHumor.com. What is the Big Shocker? It’s an oversized “We’re No. 1”-style foam-finger rendition of—how should we put this?—a certain obscene hand gesture. (Wikipedia can explain further.) According to a 2005 New Yorker profile, CollegeHumor’s 25-year-old founders made gobs of money selling these things. But an IAC rep says they will be “phased out.” Josh Abramson, one of CollegeHumor.com’s founders, jokingly says the site might just offload the remaining inventory in Times Square (which is just what that neighborhood needs). Until then, the Big Shocker is still available for a mere $9.95, plus shipping and handling. —Posted by Tim Nudd

August 16, 2006 | Permalink

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Comments

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Before I was corrupted, I spent the better part of a boring night at the newspaper trading "shocker" lines with a pre-press guy. The one with "gooer" and "sewer" is always a classic.

I still laugh a lot harder at Sealab''s "The Shocker" sketch. Big love to anyone who can find a link to that video.

Posted by: CorruptedJournalist | Aug 16, 2006 10:02:09 AM

This is so gross. And not as easy as flipping the bird, thankfully, so not likely a gesture that will catch on. I wonder if Crispin's ads for Volkswagen in which people make the logo with their hands, is a subliminal reference to this gesture.

Posted by: Subservient Chicken | Aug 16, 2006 11:42:00 AM

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