MSCL.com

I just typed "another universe" into Google to see if I could find any other AU user horror stories. Instead, I found that someone from this board has purchased an ad on Google warning users not to buy from AU. If you check it out, it appears in the upper right hand corner of the search results page. The ad links to David Lambert's post on this board encouraging us to contact the BBB (etc).

I'm curious who paid for this ad and why. Thanks.

Justin Martin mentioned a "Google Ad" in his e-mail to me, which I received yesterday monring. I wrote back simply that "I don't know what ad on Google you're referring to."

Later on, in a discussion with Gord where I mentioned this and my confusion surrounding it, he later replied that "Dave, AU thinks you got so pissed off that you took out a Google ad telling people not to buy the set. If you search for "My So-Called Life" on Google you'll see the ad to the right that links to your MSCL forum post."

My reply was: "Huh, I didn't even know you could do that. I might've, if I was pissed enough and knew you could. But I certainly didn't. I just went to go look for this, and I don't see it. I did a google search for that phrase exactly, and the only ad to the right I see is AU's."

Later, I searched again, demonstrating the concept to my wife. This time the ad linking to my post appeared.

While noone here or at AU has a reason to believe me (and frankly it doesn't matter if they do not), I will state for the record that I DID NOT PURCHASE THE AD. Quite honestly, I wouldn't spend more of my own money on something like that. I'm the kind of guy who would call, say, "60 Minutes" or the equivilant, instead, if I wanted to spread the word around even more.

Note that I have no intention of doing so at this time.


I suspect that whoever did purchase the ad will not own up to it here, and if they did I don't think it will be a surprise to anyone that it's another pissed-off customer like me. So it really doesn't matter if they speak up or not; it won't affect my life any. Or AU's or anyone else's. It's another consequence of the situation, that's all. Blech.


In the meantime, my raving - both public and private, both actual and perceived - on the subject of "Where's my money?" has prompted me to get not one but two e-mails from Ross Rojek himself. I've already shared the first one, elsewhere on MSCL.Com's forums. t is my intention to share some or all of the 2nd one with you, too, since the message in this note depicts a small slice of Ross's side of the story, which we really haven't heard much of. I won't do so until at least tonight, though...gotta run and get ready for work. Gonna be late!

Thanks for your post David. When I found the ad, and saw that it linked to your post, I admit that it aroused my suspicion that you bought it. But my next thought was that it just wasn't very plausible - why would a FAN buy the ad? When money is involved, most people tend to keep their money rather than "act for the good of mankind" (or in this case, the fans of MSCL). That's why I asked WHO purchased the ad...I didn't want to assume you did.

Since you state that you didn't buy it, and I actually believe that, my suspicion is aroused as to who would. I remember that when the style of the board switched, some of the mods reported that certain "Guest" posts where being traced back to Disney...someone that would have a monetary interest in this box set AND the funds to cover the ad? Hmmm....

Correction. The posts were not traced back to Disney and I never, ever, ever, ever said that. The posts were traced back to a place that made it all the more bizarre. It was not Disney. Trust me on this. If I told you who it was, your head would spin.

Mickey Mouse wouldn't do such a thing.

Jason

Now THAT's interesting..I just went to Google to see if it was possible to trace the ad's origination and it's mysteriously disappeared. Maybe it just randomly pops up, but it didn't seem very random yesterday...

If it's not obvious by now, I'm a sucker for conspiracy theories.

Oh duh - that's right! You said it was a person...but there was some kind of hinting about Disney. But that doesn't mean the person had any connections to Disney...

Now I shall go back to forming another conspiracy theory...based around the person that WOULD be interested in sabotaging the disk but has no connection to Disney.

Jason Rosenfeld wrote: If I told you who it was, your head would spin.

Claire Danes?

log in under a different name and tell us

Actually it wouldn't surprise me if it was Claire or Jared. Both are known to hate MSCL.

Posting anonymously wouldn't help - we'd all know it's him. But I still encourage the idea.

The posts from way back when were not posted by a cast member or anybody involved with the creation of the show.

oooo... this is like an episode of The Wizz Kids.

As far as conspiricy theories go, I don't think a megacorp like Disney would bother with a tiny ad on Google or anonymous rumor posting to shut down a project they didn't like. If they really wanted the DVDs dead they could set up an untraceable account to buy out and liquidate AU, BMG, and any other company that has a hand in it. Then they could just purchase the rights to MSCL and sit on them. I mean, last time I checked Disney owned about 65% of the planet...

On the other hand, if the D-men did have a hand in this mess I'm sure they would have no problem silencing anyone who stumbled across their involvement. Not that I'm dissing Jason; I'm just saying everyone has their price, whether its the lure of the carrot or the threat of the stick.

Unfortunately, the problem with theories like this one is that there are so many individuals and groups that have a motive to throw a wrench in this process: rival businesses, disgruntled ex-AU employees, special interest groups that dislike MSCL's "message", etc. Still, it is fun to speculate, and good excercise for the paranoid mind...

somamoon wrote:Actually it wouldn't surprise me if it was Claire or Jared. Both are known to hate MSCL.

Posting anonymously wouldn't help - we'd all know it's him. But I still encourage the idea.

Claire and Jared both hate MSCL? Really? Anyone know why?
I can't believe I didn't know this!

Nostradamus wrote:As far as conspiricy theories go, I don't think a megacorp like Disney would bother with a tiny ad on Google or anonymous rumor posting to shut down a project they didn't like. If they really wanted the DVDs dead they could set up an untraceable account to buy out and liquidate AU, BMG, and any other company that has a hand in it.

they might buy out AU, certainly not BMG which is part of the Bertelsmann Company

but J-man, give us more to speculate. We'll never find out who it was anyway.

HATE is a strong word.

Immediately after MSCL, Claire was a bit tired of the entire thing that we love, for many reasons, one of them being that she was a young girl who had just spent over a year of her life working on the same show. She wanted to do other projects and was ready to move on, yet every interview inevitably mentioned MSCL (understandably since she was so excellent in it and it was her biggest break yet). Since then, she has mellowed out about it. I'm sure the fact that time has passed has helped.

As far as Jared is concerned, he doesn't hate MSCL per se, but the thought of forever being remembered as Jordan rather than Jared. In addition, he is now touring with his band and it is not a little side project to do between movies (Russell Crowe, I'm talking to you!). He is very serious about his music and wants to be taken seriously as a musician. As a result, he does not like being referred to as Jordan in concert and album reviews.

Although it hurt my heart just a little bit to think that Claire and Jordan did not want to be associated with MSCL after the show ended (yes, I did take it a little personally at first), I can see their points of view. Just imagine if everywhere you went - the grocery store, Target, school, the gym, etc. people kept asking you about your high school prom. At first you would be more than happy to tell the great stories and laugh and reminisce, but after a while you would want people to just forget about it and move on.

All actors have the projects they would rather not talk about, but at least Claire and Jordan can be proud of this one. It's not like MSCL is the equivelent of Jennifer Love Hewitt's cringe-inducing appearance in the Barbie workout video that they pull out every once in a while.

candygirl wrote:
All actors have the projects they would rather not talk about, but at least Claire and Jordan can be proud of this one.

See, you still call him Jordan instead of Jared.