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Can Greenpeace love Mr. Splashy Pants? Every marketer digs a user-generated campaign ... until it gets hijacked in some way, which it inevitably does. Greenpeace, for example, has been running a contest to name a whale. Following the usual ho-hum entries, a group of zealots banded together to push the candidacy of one Mr. Splashy Pants. Like most Internet memes—see the dramatic chipmunk—this one spawned all sorts of added activity, including the making of a logo, T-shirt and Facebook groups. Reddit, the social news site, even recast its logo as Mr. Splashy Pants. Now, Greenpeace, which we erroneous thought had lightened up a bit, is looking to take down Mr. Splashy Pants. It has recognized Mr. S.P. as a candidate, but has accused Splashy Pants enthusiasts of stuffing the ballot box—now it’s disallowing some clicks and even extending the voting deadline, apparently in the hope that some tamer name like Aiko (“little love” in Japanese) will gain steam. My money’s on Mr. Splashy Pants pulling out the win. Thanks to Molly Parsley, AKQA employee and Mr. Splashy Pants fan, for pointing out this injustice. —Posted by Brian Morrissey

December 6, 2007 in Morrissey | Permalink

Comments

Hey, Mr. Splashy Pants is fun.. Aiko is exactly what you might expect otherwise.

Lighten up, Greenpeace! Splashy Pants could be a great lead-in for the younger crowd becoming accustomed to helping the environment and wildlfe.. Aiko might not attract nearly as much attention.

Posted by: David Gridley | Dec 6, 2007 9:57:42 AM

Just voted...for Mr. Splashy Pants.

Posted by: Adwriter | Dec 6, 2007 10:32:28 AM

Actually, you'll find that Greenpeace is LOVING it. They extended the voting because they knew it would garner even more attention. Hell, they should go ahead and extend it to the New Year, and encourage people to purchase their Mr. Splashy Pants gear for Christmas and the like.

See this URL: http://weblog.greenpeace.org/makingwaves/archives/2007/12/aye_very_like_a_whale.html#more

The fact they are selling Mr. Splashy Pants gear already is a testament to their appreciate of the name and the attention it has garnered.

However, there are some who think there is something wrong with the name -- it's just not Greenpeace's core, necessarily. It's the super-serious uptight people. Some in every crowd.

Posted by: MilesZS | Dec 6, 2007 10:36:55 AM

They're extending the deadline to make 16 minutes out of Splashy's 15 minutes of fame. I think they're doing a pretty decent job with handling the meme - and I said so here -- http://shotgunconcepts.blogspot.com/2007/12/mr-splashy-pants.html

Posted by: Chris Houchens | Dec 6, 2007 3:51:08 PM

They'd better let him win!

Mr. Splashy Pants makes the world fun again!

Posted by: Jesse The Space Cowboy | Dec 6, 2007 4:14:26 PM

This post has no valid reasoning behind it.

Everything I've read on the Greenpeace site indicates to me they've embraced the name.

Posted by: John Farrell | Dec 6, 2007 4:50:12 PM

I'm with the space cowboy! The reason that they extended voting is that somebody hacked their one vote a person setup. And seriously, how can you NOT cheer when it's the big bad japanese whaling ship vs. the adorable Mr. Splashy Pants? Even if I didn't like whales, and I have to admit that I kind of like whales, I'd have to root for MSP. Go dude, go!

Posted by: Gabe | Dec 7, 2007 1:55:53 PM

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