Rare Bird, Inc. | Articles : Fringe Sites

	Web Reviews From 1997 to the present, President/Creative Director, Jim Cota has been writing informative reviews of Web sites and other internet related issues for the Indianapolis Business Journal. If you've missed the articles in print you can catch up on past stories here. Articles are reprinted with permission of the Indianapolis Business Journal, copyright 1997 - 2005, IBJ Corp.

Fun Sites on the Fringe

It probably wouldn't be a surprise to anyone that there are some odd and unusual sites on the Internet. In fact, it seems to me that the 'Net is a pretty accurate reflection of the general population: there is some large percentage of "normal" sites, and then there's the fringe. This fringe includes a wide range of oddities and musings, and may be responsible for more than half of Internet traffic. And even the fringe has varying levels of normalcy, ranging from merely odd to absolutely bizarre and disturbing. For this space, I'll avoid the more shocking classes and instead focus on the slightly strange.

I've come across a few sites in the past weeks that clearly fit into this category and are an interesting reflection of their creators. One was built by an ad agency for a burger joint, one is a fathers interesting hobby with his toddler, and one is an odd, haunting journey of a Russian motorcycle enthusiast.

Imagine, if you will, a place in time and space where a chicken will do your bidding… (cue Twilight Zone music). Somehow, the account executive and creative director from Crispin Porter + Bogusky convinced the folks at Burger King that building a web site featurimg someone in a chicken suit responding to the whims of visitors ("Have it your way." Get it?) would spread like wildfire using viral marketing and attract the eyes of the ever-popular 20 - 30 year-old demographic. Does it work? Consider this: when the Subservient Chicken site was launched on April 7, 2004, only 20 people were told about it. Burger King says the site has received more than 20 million hits.

With less fanfare, but certainly more engaging, "Who is that with Jeremy" asks the age-old question, "Who is that with Jeremy?" Actually, the question is better phrased, "If I'm a stay-at-home Dad in New York, could I spend our time together having his picture taken with the famous people that are always popping up? And if I did, would it be fun to put those pictures on a website? And if so, would anyone care?" Answers: Yes, yes, and yes. This site started as a way for Jeremy's Dad to fill a little time during the day. They first visited a store where Ronde and Tiki Barber were signing autographs, propped Jeremy up between them, and snapped the photo. Since then, Jeremy has said "Cheese!" with the likes of Michael J. Fox, Jamie Lee Curtis, Madonna, Al & Tipper Gore, Halle Berry, Billy Joel, and on and on… Dad spends a few minutes chronicling the photo, which adds a homey but helpful personal touch to each. I'll be surprised if you stop looking after one page.

I'll also be surprised if you can get away from Ghost Town in under 20 minutes. This site details the experiences of Elena, whose favorite thing to do is ride her Kawasaki Ninja through the dead zone created by the Chernobyl disaster of April, 1986. Though written in broken English, the narrative and photos included offer a fascinating picture of the area and the moment that changed the landscape (and the peoples lives) forever. Beginning with the Big Egg, which was brought from Germany to signify that life will once again break through, past farm houses, trucks, helicopters – even barges #150; all sitting idle, wasting away; all the way to the nuclear plant and beyond, these photos tell a story of which most of us have only vagues memories. The friend who sent me the link called the site "haunting". He was right.