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Iraqi teen plans bus tour to aid his family In hopes of raising enough money to safely relocate his family, a young Iraqi says he is launching an advertising-backed whistlestop tour of the United States in 2008. Busvertiso is the dream of Mody Jabar, a 19-year-old living in Spain. He plans to take a customized bus to 100 U.S. cities, where he will drive around to get attention for the  sponsor ads emblazoned on the bus’s exterior screens. Jabar says he came up with idea after one of his brothers was shot by militia gunmen and his sister developed a chronic kidney infection. “Her disease, along with the attack that got my brother shot a few months before, are the main reasons why I started this project,” Jabar says. “I needed to try to make things better, and I figured that the best way to do that was by offering something of real value.” Jabar had spent some time in the U.S. as an exchange student before returning to Iraq, where he said he was targeted as an "American agent" and forced to find safe haven with friends in Spain. Although these kinds of international pleas are often the stuff of scams, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. And hey, at $450 per city for an ad, it could be a safer investment than trying to pick a presidential campaign bus to support next year. UPDATE: In the comments section, Jabar has posted many more details on the project and how you can get involved. —Posted by David Griner

August 13, 2007 in Griner | Permalink

Comments

Hello David,

Thank you so much for writing about the project, I really appreciate it.

None of what I am claiming is made up, and none of it is special actually. Millions of Iraqis have similar stories to tell, and many have ones that are worse. I was actually trying to figure out how to give the project more credibility, and someone who runs a site like adfreak (I visit it a lot) is definitely someone I am interested in backing my claims up for. I can contact you with everything you may want to know if that is ok. I'd really appreciate that.

I have the complete design, features, and the contract ready to be signed from the company that will build the bus. I can also provide that.

I think it does offer a good value for advertisers because it is unique and the bus is the type of marketing vehicle only Sony-like corporations can normally afford. The press release says there are 39 spots per city, but they are actually 29.

The bus will have twenty 60-inch high definition screens, computers, and video game consoles (Xbox or PS3, this is not decided yet) all mounted on its exterior. This will surely turn heads and attract attention wherever the bus goes. People will be able to play video games, watch movies, and do more things which makes it that much more effective. Thousands should be exposed to and interact with the bus when it visits, and one would think something like this may even attract media attention, adding more value. I think the value is good given that each spot costs $450. It is basically the small business owners or webmasters ''chipping in'' to create a very attractive and effective marketing vehicle. Businesses with no websites will even get a site designed and hosted by my server for a year.

Again, thanks a lot David. This really means a lot to me (the first highly-respected site to write about it.) Please let me know if you would be interested in checking out everything and confirm that I'm not a scammer or anything like that. That would be really helpful to me and the project.

Best regards,
Mody

Posted by: Mody | Aug 13, 2007 3:39:42 PM

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