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Monday February 7, 11:00 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: NationalLampoon.com
NationalLampoon.com Announces the First Virtual Presidential Candidate
Online Humor Network Weighs into 'Contest 2000' With an Interactive Candidate to be Created by the People
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Watch your backs Al Gore and George W. Bush! This week, as the South Carolina primary looms, nationallampoon.com is weighing into the upcoming presidential election by creating the country's first 'virtual candidate' that will be created online by voters nationwide.
The candidate's political platform, physical appearance and even past scandals will be democratically provided by visitors to www.nationallampoon.com, the online humor network. Starting right now, visitors can begin building the candidate.
Through a truly democratic process, the candidate will be the first office-seeker interactively created through the Internet. Voters will be able to mold the candidate from scratch picking his hair (Elvis or Marv Albert?) eyes (Sinatra or Marilyn Manson?), and other facial features from a myriad of choices. Also up for grabs is his family upbringing, background, spouse's name and her pet issue, and the motto of his college alma mater. The inevitable ``seamy underbelly' of the candidate can be chosen from categories including fears and quirks, addictions and sexual proclivities.
Most importantly, voters will build their dream candidate's platform by answering comic, multiple choice questions on a variety of hot button issues including gays in the military, the use of medicinal marijuana, prayer in school and arts funding.
To participate, nationallampoon.com viewers visit the online humor network's cover page and click on the patriotic, flag waving ladies. To the audio strains of ``Hail to the Chief,' the visitor will complete a raucously funny, exhaustive questionnaire. As the voter makes his or her choices, a thumbnail animation of the candidate will appear, his look instantly influenced by the political bent and characteristics the ``voter' gives him.
For instance, a right-wing flavored candidate will appear with a pit bull in tow while a FAR right candidate will share a desk with a clubbed baby seal!
Far left-leaning candidate might be flanked by a plant, a photograph of Soviet guru Lenin and a bong (that's a marijuana smoking device but you wouldn't know that, right?). When the voting process is completed, the text of a speech from the candidate will appear on screen reflecting all the voter's picks.
After 60 days, the attributes most often selected by the cyber electorate will be used to create the final version of the virtual candidate. At that point, the candidate will have a life outside the confines of the online humor network. With the unveiling of the virtual candidate in April, nationallampoon.com will wade into national political debate with a humorous and incisive take on contemporary issues.
``We know there are a lot of dissatisfied voters looking for an alternative to the 'same old' styled candidates the Republican and Democratic parties will serve up,' believes Scott Rubin, editor-in-chief and executive producer of nationallampoon.com. Rubin, a collector of memorabilia from past elections, promises that the virtual candidate will speak on political issues throughout the year until the November presidential election. ``The beauty of this candidate will be his ability to tackle controversial issues without having to hedge his bets' or bend to special interests.``
To spread the message of the virtual candidate, a full range of campaign memorabilia -- including the requisite puff-piece bio and bumper stickers -- will be available through Smash 'n' Grab, nationallampoon.com's online store, once the candidate is revealed.
``Nothing like the virtual candidate has ever been attempted,' explained Jim Jimirro, CEO, J2 Communications and keeper of the National Lampoon franchise flame. ``Our candidate is bringing the promise of the Internet to the fore by getting people actively involved in the political process; I'd expect he will be a major contender and will garner more support than many of the other candidates out there.'
While easy to navigate, NationalLampoon.com's many full-motion-video sequences will require some PC power on the part of site visitors. To properly access the site, personal computer users must have a 56K modem and above and a shockwave/flash player (downloadable for free from www.macromedia.com) and Quicktime 4 (also downloadable for free at www.apple.com/quicktime/). While the site functions with most browsers, Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE) version 4.0 or above is recommended. |
