Well, Carsonified Idea Week is done and dusted - we planned, we sewed and we posted.
Last Thursday the Carsonified team got together to choose the lucky recipients of our individual Hugs. We had decided to give our Hugs away to those who demonstrated that their machine needed one the most, so we set up a Wufoo form for people to choose their desired Hug and in a sentence, make their plea.
We had no idea if anyone would even want one of our little pocket creations, so after getting in a well-deserved round at the local pub, we sat down to discuss our newly gained sewing skills and in between sips, used our iPhones to hit ‘refresh’ every few minutes on the Wufoo report. We couldn’t believe it - every time there were 5, 10, 15 more requests - in all, we received 249 pitches to win a Hug in just a handful of days, and over 11,000 visits to the Hugmymac.com site - wow!
Elliot’s Framed and Mel’s Oggie series proved far and away the most popular; in fact we did briefly think about launching into full-scale production, but while the quality of our Hugs is not to be knocked, having fingertips with more holes than a swiss cheese is not really our thing.
Before we wrap up our Hug story for now, here are just some of the highlights from the entries we received - thanks everyone for making us smile :)
“Because I have very sweaty fingers. And bad breath. Plus poor spelling and a terrible cold. Oh jebus help me!”
“Because once, a long time ago, my Macbook was held captive in an unspeakable place filled with many horrors. I was required to pay ransom for her. When she was finally brought to me, she had been wrapped in a foam blanket, and forced to lay quietly in a box! They banged her around, shipped her across the ocean, forced her into the back of a truck, and then drove her across the country. She is so distraught now from this journey that she has spoken only a few words since she arrived, and even then the tone of the words sounded tinny, like there was no emotion behind them.”
“My Macbook really needs a hug because it has been abused severely in my travels in the United States Navy. Currently it is serving with me aboard the USS Essex, and is underway with me 8 months out of the year (every year). It goes with me when I go out into different countries when we pull into port, and it is used by me almost daily as I work on different projects onboard. It’s actually been needing a hug for a while now, but I haven’t had the time to find another Macbook lover to give it one. (Actually, it’s really hard for it to get a hug because the PDA rules onboard are quite strict.) P.S. Spam me all you want, your hugs are hella cool!”
“It’s pretty simple. This is all about the geek and hip factor. What’s geek? Being meta. What’s meta? If I get Elliot’s Framed Macbook Hug, I’ll have the OK/Cancel character using it in a comic. It’ll be a webcomic about design with a character holding a Mac Hug drawn by a designer. Whoa. (Mind Implodes)”
“Because it rains so much out here in Seattle, and it’s c-c-c-cold. My poor iPhone is shivering right now…my whole pocket is shaking. Please help, it REALLY needs some warming up!”
“My iPhone needs this hug because it is a rugged road worrier. My iPhone follows me on every adventure I go on. With my iPhone I will conquer world. That’s why my iPhone deserves a hug. If you don’t agree with what I just said, my iPhone will own you. I don’t know when, but it will… And if you dont believe that it will then I will use my iPhone to call Chuck Norris and he will deliver a deadly round house kick in the name of my iPhone. He will do this because my iPhone is the only item or person to ever survive a deadly round house kick.”
“Because I’m callous, superficial and scandalously two dimensional and this may be my one last chance at redemption - a chance to give my mac the love it deserves and forever turn me to the path of hope and righteousness. At only 3 weeks old it’s had a a dent put in it by the power pack landing on it’s shiny bonce; coffee spilt on it; chocolate eaten in bed, in the dark, stuck to it’s keyboard and a plethora of cuts and bruises from living in a bag that’s far too small. As Darth Vader once said, “for you a hug shows kindness, strength and compassion - for me it is merely an excuse to rub myself up against someone I fancy”
“Mel Kirk, you’re a designer extraordinaire
I’ve seen MacBook sleeves of silk, diamonds, and mohair
But fine felt as exquisite as this I wouldn’t dare
To pass by without a jealous “I must have it” stare.
So please, dear Ms. Kirk, hear my plea
Even my computer is begging in ASCII
Honour us both with the beauty of Senior Oggie
And we will forever be thankful to thee.”
“Jo… I’m going to make this simple: send me your hug or else I’m posting the photos of … [censored]… Love, Jeff”
