John Cow hacked his own site – brilliant or stupid?
This is both fun and stupid. John Cow (not Chow) has hacked his own site. Take a look at johncow.com, or below if it’s “saved” already.
Clicking the PayPal link will reveal that the ransom money goes to cownapper@johncow.com, i.e. the John Cow fellow himself.
Brilliant or madness? I don’t know, it is great linkbait though, as the link spreads.
Scratch that, I think it’s silly. $100 to release the site? That’s undermining your own value to me, and that hurts your brand. Might be a fun way to try and earn some extra money, from a blog I guess, but I’d reckon asking for donations would work better.
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[...] John Cow hat seine eigene Site »gehackt«: Für $100, die per Paypal überwiesen werden dürfen, wird die Site »wieder in die Freiheit entlassen«. Der Gewinn an Promotion dürfte damit weit größer werden als die eigentliche Einnahme, denke ich. Via wisdump. [...]
By Eine neue Idee, Geld und Promo für das eigene Blog zu sammeln - surfgarden on November 7, 2007 10:47 pm
Good idea for getting links anda bit more publicity.
I like it
By Todd on November 7, 2007 11:55 pm
Thanks for the link, I appreciate it. I thought John Cow’s idea was cute, as long as he doesn’t leave it up there too long. His advertisers may start to get upset. I bought into it and donated a buck. What could it hurt?
By Roberta on November 8, 2007 4:20 am
[...] stunt was funny and clever whilst some thought it was evil or poor marketing. This guy said it undermined his whole brand and I think that is an apt description. Other people were asking questions about advertising [...]
By Is there any integrity left in the world of blogging? on November 8, 2007 3:55 pm
If you actually checked the amount in PayPal it was only for $1 per click. If he was trying to make a bunch of cash off of this idea he wouldn’t have done it that way. Also, he donated 2 times the amount made on this fake hack to a reader.
By The Rookie on November 9, 2007 12:05 pm
Yes, I realize that, and you realize that. However, the common visitor might not, and then it’s just undermining the weight of his site. People not well-versed in the John Cow experience might even change their opinion on the blog’s reliability, being “just worth $100 to release”.
If he thought that everyone would understand the prank, he thought wrong. Not everyone cares enough to look at PayPal e-mail addresses.
By Thord Daniel Hedengren on November 9, 2007 9:41 pm
This website is owned by Jason Katzenbeck , an internet marketer and i think he is doing an experiment with this domain.
By ws domains on January 9, 2010 10:05 pm