If I could, I would emboss the Centaur of Approval on all four of the following awesome sites, which I have just recently started reading: Bubblegumfink, Blue Tea, Vintage Ads & See Here. Searching for interesting/offbeat posts for the August Metafilter contest really helped me find a bunch of new/interesting blogs, which was a great side benefit.
So, I wrote a post a few days ago about personalized Ketchup labels, and in the comments section, someone mentioned personalized M&M’s, even going so far as to provide the URL written out, instead of hyperlinking to it. The appearance of the URL in the text of this blog now causes the blog to show up on some search engines as a result of searching for the URL. Why would anyone “search” for a URL, you ask? Well, user experience has shown that a good number of internet users actually type URLs directly into search engines instead of into the address bars of their browsers, believe it or not. So I noticed that this M&M’s url was the #2 query for strangers finding the jonsonblog, right behind the perennial favorite “sex with animals”. I thought nothing of it, until I saw the following comment appear today, at the bottom of the Ketchup post:
“I found the order for custom printed m & m’s in the coupon section of the providence journal sunday paper. It said nothing about ordering ketchup first or anything about the blog. All I wanted was to surprise my 80 year old aunt who loves m & m’s with this special custom order. What is this a scam or something? If it is, it’s pretty cruel? Please respond. “
Posted by a woman named Norma, who I assume lives in Rhode Island. I have no response for Norma, other than to tell her that the M&M’s can be ordered here, and that I’m sorry I tried to scam her into buying some of my delicious Ketchup first. Please forgive me.
