An online poll asking voters for their opinion on a topic ‘I Voted’The election sticker again proved why internet jokesters can’t be defeated.
Ah, the internet. You remain unbeaten and undisputed after all these many years.
With billions of people around the world using the internet each and every day, it’s no surprise that companies often turn to the online community to run polls and surveys.
But, the internet and its userbase can often not be the best place to organize the healthy competitions that PR or marketing teams desire.
A very special poll from America has gone viral this week as election officials seek to select a new design. “I Voted”But stickers are not the only way that internet jokesters have taken over a seemingly honest competition.
The ‘I Voted’An election sticker poll has a unique frontrunner
After internet users discovered a very special entry, a poll in the United States went viral and became the first choice for the title. “I Voted”Sticker competition
The Ulster County Board of Elections holds an online election currently CompetitionYou can request a new sticker design to go with your product. “I Voted”Contest that will be used for the upcoming local elections. Although most of the submitted designs are very pleasing to the eye, if not a bit boring, one sticker is sure to grab the attention of the Internet.
The current 1stPlace design is a six-legged creature that has a message on its head. “I Voted”Hudson Roman, 14 years old, submitted this. Speaking via The Washington PostHudson stated that “did not expect it to take off the way it did at all”Additions to the design are a “colorful human head on, I guess, spider legs?”
The design is hilarious Continue reading than 200,000 votes – that’s 22,000 more votes than the entire population of Ulster County and 93% of the entire votes cast in this year’s competition!
“It took me, like, 10 minutes to draw it. It was a quick … little sketch, and then I submitted it. And a couple days later, my mom was like, ‘Hudson, your thing has like a couple thousand votes.’ And I was just freaking out, ’cause I didn’t know how that happened and how so many people voted.” – Hudson Roman, via The Washington Post.
John P. Quigley is the Republican election commission for Ulster County. He stated that “This sticker is going to increase turnout.”Ashley Dittus, Democratic commissioner, replied more reluctantly. “We think it will.”
This means that Ulster County voters will have a friend in six weeks. Democracy and the marketing teams may chalk this up as a win. However, the internet, Hudson, and democracy are the only true winners.
Online fan voting and competitions can have hilarious consequences
North Korea sends Justin BieberFaxo launched a poll in 2010 to determine where Justin Bieber’s first World Tour would begin.
Whilst fans around the world quickly spammed their hometown’s so that they could see the rising star in person, a group of pranksters on 4Chan had a different idea – send Bieber to North Korea…
More than 650,000 votes later, North Korea had won. CompetitionBy a wide margin. Unfortunately, and for very obvious reasons, the Canadian pop artist was not able to win. OptBaby was not the headliner in Pyongyang. Kim Jong Il didn’t get the chance to sing with Baby.
Rick-Rolling with the New York Mets There is arguably no internet meme song that is more beloved (or hated) than Rick Astley’s iconic Never Gonna Give You Up.
When the New York Mets began, OnlineA poll inviting fans to vote on the new 8Th inning theme song, it’s no surprise that the internet took the chance to Rick-roll the iconic Shea Stadium marketing team.
Ironically, Never Gonna give you up actually won the award CompetitionWith over 5 million votes, and was actually played during the 8Th innings on opening day in 2008…But “The song wasn’t well received, people booed.”
The School for the Deaf nearly hosted a Taylor Swift gig. When Taylor Swift’s career was on its first upwards trajectory, her team set up a competition to perform at a US school that earned the most votes in an online poll.
Reddit again and 4Chan hilariously ruled supreme when they almost Management to send Swift to…The Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
The school was quickly removed from the poll by the competition sponsors (officially due in ‘tampering’Swift proved her class yet again by demonstrating her class. donatingShe donated $50,000 to the institution, and she even arranged for free tickets for some students at her next show.
Pitbull announces a Walmart concert for Alaska: In a similar manner to the Bieber – North Korea poll, an online competition was launchedTo have Pitbull the superstar perform at a Walmart location.
Pitbull hosted Walmart in Kodiak, Alaska. But the internet made that decision. Where did online pranksters send Pitbull? Kodiak, Alaska…The most remote Walmart in the US.
However, Pitbull was able to attend the Alaskan Walmart. reportedlyKodiak locals were very happy to receive it.
SOS Condoms is early to the rescue No one likes a flaccid competition and Durex’s infamous SOS Condoms campaign certainly didn’t go down well after the internet got involved.
Durex was the first to launch a 2013 product. CampaignSOS Condoms is an app that allows lovers to get protection and provides contraceptives at their discretion to those who need them. However, the campaign decided to ask the internet where the first trial of SOS Condoms would be held and the winner…Batman.
Batman is the most popular city in the competition. It’s an oil-rich, Turkish city in South Eastern Anatolia, which is home to a majority conservative, Muslim population.
SOS Condoms didn’t make it to Batman. However, the service did run a test in Dubai before being quickly shut down.
The Mister Splashy Pants Whale Arguably the most wholesome fan poll-gone wrong is the story of Mister Splashy Pants…the Humpback Whale.
Greenpeace organised a conference in 2007 CompetitionTo name a Humpback Whale that was tagged in the South Pacific with tracking equipment
Whilst the majority of the names were pretty and appropriate, it’s no surprise that Mister Splashy Pants won by a comfortable margin with 78% of the total votes.
Greenpeace would be happy to join the fun, MentalFlossNotifying the organisation that they had noted how “He might have a great name, but he and his friends are still in danger.”
4Chan vs Mountain Dew’s new flavour: The final entry in the Internet’s undefeated streak vs online competitions is the now-infamous Dub the Dew, where Mountain DewAsk fans to name their new apple-flavoured drink.
Whilst frontrunners included Soda, Sierra Mist and Soylent Green, they were ultimately no match for the eventual competition winner and the new name of Mountain Dew’s apple-flavoured drink… Hitler Did Nothing Wrong.
Mountain Dew reported that they cancelled the competition soon after realizing what was going on. TwitterHow Dub the DEW lost to The Internet.
By Tom Llewellyn – [email protected]
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