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Gainer Scandal Escalates - Allegations about Mascot's True Species

Gainer the Gopher was riding high on a swell of public support.  But now allegations have surfaced that he has been hiding his true species.

Globe and Mail columnist Allan Maki wrote an exposé that reveals Gainer may be a Richardson's ground squirrel, or some other species.

"The irony here is that while the Stampeders are worried about a six-foot, short-tailed Gainer invading their stadium and making Saskatchewan fans cheer louder, they don't know if he's really a gopher, and neither does anyone else. It could be a ground squirrel, a hamster in disguise, or worse, an elected member of Saskatchewan's legislative assembly."

See:
Gainergate Goes Goofy. Gosh. Go Gainer, Go Green Riders! - Saskboy
Is Gainer Really a Gopher? - Allan Maki
Watch the Game with Gainer - Rod Pedersen
Au Revoir, Gopher - Sports Illustrated

Previous posts:
Revenge of the Gopher
Roughriders' 13th Player Barred from Game

Revenge of the Gopher

Alberta has a well-publicized anti-rat campaign.  Now the premier has joined in on the gopher eradication efforts of the Calgary Stampeders.

No wonder Calgary is worried about the Roughriders mascot, Gainer the Gopher. This video from James Whittingham envisages Gainer's revenge at McMahon Stadium. (Whittingham's was the first blog I ever visited.)  Update:  James re-did the video with more of a horror movie feel to it.

Previous post: Roughriders' 13th Player Banned from Game

Outrageous Satire, or U.S. Foreign Policy? Hard to Tell, Some Days

When you scan a headline like this in The Onion, you know it's either a hilarious exagerration of the truth, or American foreign policy (read: credibility) has sunk to a new low.

If it's humour, everyone's getting in on the joke:

• Talking Torture and Using Germany as an Illustration - Atlantic Review
• Senate Passes Torture Bill and Bush Pardon - Drudge Report: Beavis Christ Blog
• Have You No Sense of Decency, Sir, at Long Last? - Tragos, Brian Cooney
• Senate Passes Detainee Bill Sought by Bush - New York Times

When the post 9/11 suspension of some human rights began, I hoped the various governments, armies and security agencies would somehow distinguish themselves by their ethics and actions from those who sew terror with suicide bombs in public places. The distinction continues to blur until into insignificance.

Tags: terrorists, usa, senate, anti-terrorism, torture

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Does CAA YouTube Campaign Go Beyond LonelyGirl15?!?

Faked photos of war! Viral campaigns that dupe thousands of YouTube fans!  Where will it end?

I've been sitting on this scandal for a while, but since the story surfaced that Lonelygirl15 is a fake and is somehow involved with Creative Artists Agency, I'll reveal another possible case of CAA trying to go viral on YouTube.

On the right is a picture of CAA president Richard Lovett (click on the photo to see the original in context).

Below is a still from one of the autoerotic danceworks on YouTube by "samuelalieno", supposedly a 26-year-old Italian with a penchant for dancing in his underwear while fondling various plants and household appliances. Is this the same person? The hairstyle is almost identical.  And the boyish good looks are very similar...

Coincidence?  We think not. What if "samuelalieno" isn't the unknown terpsichorian he pretends to be, but a Hollywood exec trying to make the big time as a performer?

There's obviously a widespread conspiracy to create viral buzz around the careers of several aspiring artists linked to CAA. LonelyGirl15 was just the thin edge of the wedge.

I have a crack team of photo analysts just back from Lebanon ready to pore through YouTube videos and the CAA archives to find more compelling proof.  I'll publish the details as soon as I have them.

Disclosure:  One of my crack team of photo analysts blurred the crotch a bit, and masked the face, in case it turns out this erotic dancer isn't in fact a Hollywood exec, and turns out to be a minor.  There may also have been some alteration to Mr. Lovett's hair while Photoshop was used to convert the file for the web. ;-)

Tags: satire, lonelygirl15, youtube, scandal, photoshop, caa, entertainment, viral, unmasked

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Blog Trend Monitor

Colin McKay no doubt used a very scientific technique for developing this graph:

Blogging During the Dog Days of Summer

You Can Send a Canadian to China, but You Can't Dress Him Up

  kk Naked on top of the freaking Great Wall of China 
  Originally uploaded by Robert Scales.

Vancouver web geek and photographer Kris Krug tries out a new kind of Naked Conversation, on the Great Wall of China.  I'm sure there are rules about this sort of thing.  Something about using your right hand to make the devil horns....

See my earlier item about online reputations, and laugh. 

ValleyWag weighs in.

Now go look at something else for a while, to give your eyes a rest.  They need it.

If 43 Things Doesn't Float your Boat, Try 43 Thongs

Richard Eriksson has launched the latest social networking site.

The foot fetishists of the world, having tried 43 Things, 43 Places and whatever other variation on 43 the Robot Co-op came up with, can now visit 43 Thongs.

This parody site looks and feels like 43 Things, but thankfully doesn't take the joke too far. I tried 43 Things when it was starting out, but I just didn't have the stamina or the interest to live my life large for my online neighbours.

If you have always wanted to see flip-flops in action, this is the site for you.

Link via Darren Barefoot.

Tags: humour, parody, 43things, robotcoop

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Celebrity Endorsement - For Immediate Release

First they're pimping for votes on Podcast Alley, now the power PR podcasters Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson have everyone and their dog pushing their listener survey.

Why will Einstein promote them, but not me?

News item: research shows 1% of online U.S. families regularly download podcasts.

Create your own weird visuals on this site (thanks to Ike for the link).

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Join the Nobody Club

Yesterday, I was just a nobody.

Today, thanks to the solidarity of other PR blogging nobodies out there, I'm part of a movement.

Inspired by Andrea "Nobody" Weckerle and with the creative spark of Ike "Nobody" Pigott, the official Nobody Club has been established.

Being a group of obnoxious blogging evangelists and communications pros, we will no doubt bicker for the next month or two about possibly renaming ourselves The Nobody Society, The International Association of Nobodies, and Nobodies Blogging for Transparency.

Other members so far:

   
• Allan "Nobody" Jenkins
   
• Gary "Nobody" Goldhammer

You too can be a nobody. We even have a button for posting to your blog or web site.

Update:  There's now a Nobodies web site Check it out!

Other posts:
International Association of Nobodies Newsletter, Vol.1, No.1
A Movement of Nobodies Is  Born
I'm a Nobody in the Communications Business

Tags: nobody, communications, pr, public relations, blogs, ragan

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Significant Moves Kick off Fiscal Year

I always keep my eye out for startling news on April 1.  For a few years I couldn't figure out why so many shocking stories broke on this day.  Then I realized, it's the start of the fiscal year for many companies!

This year's crop:

Josh Hallett does some sleuthing to uncover a new venture by previous blog combatants Steve Rubel and Jeremy Pepper.

Hey, Robert Scoble is leaving Microsoft and joining Google. Also check out the Scoble dashboard.

Speaking of Microsoft, apparently they're buying Open Office for a sum reported to be "in the billions."

And then there's this announcement that a Canadian government MP wants journalists jailed if they provide distorted coverage (via Antonia Zerbisias). Oops -- that item wasn't from April 1, yet it seems even more bizarre than the other ones.

Rubel, for his part, points to a valuable service provided by Wikipedia this year.

Tags: aprilfools, pr, public relations

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