The Internet Is Trying To Send A Late-Thirties Man To Smell Taylor Swift's Hair

from the yup,-that-sounds-about-right dept

You know, at some point the kind of people that run online contests are going to have to blossom into the kind of people that know that 4chan exists. You see, the lively go-getters over at 4chan and Reddit really, really like messing with these kinds of contests, resulting in discomfort for some and hilarity for most. Serving as examples of this are the Time man of the year poll that resulted in a win for Kim Jong-Un, a Mountain Dew contest that resulted in more unfortunate names than I could shake a granny-orgasm-joke at, and a school for the deaf winning a live Taylor Swift concert. That the unintended results of these contests were then removed from consideration is unfortunate for anyone who likes this kind of thing, and that was typically only possible because there wasn't an adorably creepy face to put with these negations of contest results.

But that isn't the case with one Boston radio station's online contest for a meet-and-greet with oft-target-of-the-internet Taylor Swift. As you might have guessed, this contest too has been hijacked by 4chan and Reddit, all in the name of sending a 39 year old creepster on a mission to sniff Swift's dead-head-cells.

It all started with a post on the infamous imageboard 4chan asking its anonymous users to help Charles "crush the dreams of these girls and give him a chance to make a complete ass of himself by blatantly just sniffing her hair with cameras rolling."

The lulz-seekers obliged, and, with the help of 500 spambots, by early Tuesday morning Charles was sitting pretty in third place, on his way to two free tickets to a Taylor Swift show and a backstage photo sesh with the 23-year-old.
Reddit picked up on the fun shortly afterwards, vaulting Chaz (he looks like a guy in need of a sweet nickname) into first place, where he remains as of this writing. Now, while the radio station explicitly stated that they can deny winners if they deem their winning tactics unworthy, this time they'll risk the backlash of overweight creepy guys that want to sniff Swift's hair, a demographic that I'm sure is on the rise as of the past several years. More importantly, there is a single face in the story now. Charles' mug is featured on the website, as terrifyingly tousled and bearded as you would imagine, and a no to him is every bit as heart-tugging as a no to a 13 year old girl. Okay, so maybe not every bit, but still, is the station going to slap that face down just because the internet loves him?

Regardless, anyone organizing an online contest of this sort had better start building them to be 4chan-proof, or risk the internet's influence.

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Filed Under: 4chan, internet contests, taylor swift
Companies: 4chan, reddit


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  • icon
    qyiet (profile), 16 Jul 2013 @ 4:52pm

    4Chan Proof?

    The problem with making something 4Chan proof, is it's like trying to make something idiot proof. They just keep making better idiots.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      That Anonymous Coward (profile), 16 Jul 2013 @ 5:38pm

      Re: 4Chan Proof?

      One wonders when a company will finally take the bull by the horns and ask 4Chan to create it for them.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 16 Jul 2013 @ 5:05pm

    old guy?

    As a person in their late thirties, I resent gawker calling a 39 year old a 'fat old guy'.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 16 Jul 2013 @ 5:07pm

      Re: old guy?

      I take it back - it was 4-chan calling him a fat old guy, not gawker. There's no point in resenting what 4-chan does. Carry on.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Jimmy Rustllington, 16 Jul 2013 @ 5:40pm

    CHARLES DID NOTHING WRONG!!

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Nigel (profile), 16 Jul 2013 @ 5:47pm

    Last I checked in on this he and or 4chan won lol...

    Nigel

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Rekrul, 16 Jul 2013 @ 5:50pm

    Does anyone actually believe that it's her hair he wants to sniff?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 16 Jul 2013 @ 6:28pm

    What I don't understand is how can anyone, in this day and age of the internet, not know about reddit and 4chan. These two communities, and I have to say it, looooove to make fun of stupid people for their own gratifying purposes.

    Personally, and I love it that reddit and 4chan do this, I love to see these communities ridicule these ridiculous people and their ridiculous contests. It's like plastering a "kick me" sign on your back, deliberately, and then waiting to see who takes you up on your offer.

    lolz

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 16 Jul 2013 @ 6:28pm

    stupid is as stupid does, I suppose

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Wally (profile), 16 Jul 2013 @ 7:39pm

    Kim Jong-Un

    Actually...I think he sort of deserves it. North and South Korea are in peace talks right now :-)

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    forest, 16 Jul 2013 @ 7:42pm

    Life is like a box of stupid...

    you never know what you'll get, that is unless it's an internet contest that 4chan n reddit think needs their input...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    apauld (profile), 16 Jul 2013 @ 10:51pm

    "sniffing her hair"

    So techdirt, help me out here. I always thought Taylor Swift was some dude that liked to drag his butt on the ground like a diuretic dog. So is it really a female singer that likes to drag drag her butt on the ground like a diuretic dog?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 17 Jul 2013 @ 6:15am

    My guess: Taylor Swift had this to say to 4chan:

    ( •_•)
    ( •_•)>⌐■-■
    (⌐■_■)

    "You're not sorry."

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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