« Man! What Is It With Scotties?! | Main | Peggy Noonan takes W.. »
September 26, 2005
Barry Diller, Literary Archivist
...The genteel butler that has been Ask Jeeves Inc.'s face for nearly a decade is getting ousted in a corporate takeover. Jeeves, the slightly chubby and balding English butler based on P.G. Wodehouse's eponymous and ever-resourceful manservant, isn't the kind of image that e-commerce conglomerate InterActiveCorp wants representing the Ask Jeeves search engine, according to IAC Chairman Barry Diller......Diller announced that his company intends to drop Jeeves as a mascot and shorten the search site's name to Ask or Ask.com. "Not that I don't like that fat butler," Diller said
Nor we the fat cat, classless corporate executive.
Oh, who am I kidding? What's the percentage of Ask Jeeves users who even know who Wodehouse is to begin with? All gentle things coarsen these days or fade away completely.
Posted by tree hugging sister at September 26, 2005 04:42 PM
Comments
That HTS can really turn a phrase, can't she?
Maybe Barry Diller is trying to capture the confused seekers who don't know that they really want Answer.com.
Have you seen Barry lately? He's bald and kind of not slim. Maybe he was just a little too uncomfortable with the looks of the Jeeves image. Here he is with his main squeeze:
http://www.rdl.com.lb/2003/q3/3915/25.jpg
Perhaps the new mascot will be wearing a DVF wrap dress.
Posted by: Suzette at September 26, 2005 05:08 PM
All gentle things coarsen these days or fade away completely.
Not me; I get kinder, gentler, and more refined with each passing moment.
Posted by: Mr. Bingley at September 26, 2005 05:51 PM
Not me
That's because you're 'pickled' vice 'aged'.
And you're right, Suzette (and you found a MUCH better pic than any I came across). A smidge too close to home, when 'vanity thy name is show biz'.
Posted by: tree hugging sister at September 26, 2005 05:59 PM