Are you in need a new Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro with 3GB of RAM and a 200GB hard drive and have no way of paying for it? Then why not sell advertising on the lid of the laptop to places like Firefox, Technorati, Digg, and other Web 2.0 startups? That is exactly what Leah Culver did and now she has a shiny new laser etched laptop to use wherever she goes.
You can contribute a bit of money to help me buy a new computer – a MacBook Pro laptop. For $150 a square inch, I’ll etch (almost) whatever you want on the top of my new laptop. Your ad will be shown all around the Bay Area coffee shops, start-up offices, and Web2.0 conventions! I now work at Instructables, a how-to/DIY website full of cool projects. Instructables is located at Squid Labs and I have access to their laser etching/cutting machine.
I was thinking of laser etching my laptop but I don’t think I’ll let Instructables do it for me. The etching job on Leah’s MacBook doesn’t look so great. Some of the sponsor’s logos are completely faded out. The FireFox logo (I assume it’s FireFox) looks terrible and you can’t make out the three logos at the bottom.
I think the laptop would have look better if she just asked the advertisers to send her decals to stick on the lid. Then she can just charge by the month and add or remove advertisers as contracts come due.
Her idea is a good one however, and I admire her creativity and marketing skills. I’m sure she’ll be getting many fan mails from geeky computer nerds.
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It seems like all you have to do these days is come up with a new original location and layout and you can sell advertising for whatever the cost. I think I need to get on this train.
Wow, the girl is so HOT! Nice idea, I’ll make an investment.
woops, just realized that it’s alredy over. Well, I’ll give her $10,000 if she gets a body tattoo of our company’s logo. We’ll select where the tattoo goes
lol. That is a great idea. I imagine she will have lots of copy-cats now as well.
Don’t be a hater John!
I don’t see much pay off for the advertisers after the initial buzz of this idea wears off.
Neat idea but it’s one of those “one shot” ideas… until she sells the laptop to GoldenPalace!
“The etching job on Leah’s MacBook doesn’t looks so great.”
Your editing skills don’t look so great.
I think the smudgy appearance might be a function of light angle.
I hope you’re correct. If I was an advertiser, I would like to have a faded logo.
If I was in her place I would have explored the following business case:
First she hires a paparazzi, retains a lawyer and buys an air ticket to California. These are all the expenses essentially.
Then she annoys some celebrity at Beverly Hills, have a celebrity throw laptop at her and a paparazzi photograph this very moment.
Finally she collects money:
from suing celebrity,
from advertisers,
on a book she writes about the whole case.
Who needs blogging? Make sure your camera has good lenses!
Looks pretty fishy to me. Why would you want the ads to be upside-down when the laptop is in use? The only time people are going to see the ads is when she is using the laptop.. so they are all upside-down…
Not sure if this is a ‘hoax’ or whatever, but it looks like BS. Maybe if there was ONE logo on there instead of 100… And since when did Digg buy advertising?
FYI Carl, Apple laptops have had the logo set so it’s right side up when the lid is open for use.
This is one of those one shot things, like milliondollarhomepage.
Leah is a very hip girl and she’s very social and outgoing in Silicon Valley and thus when she tried out this project it worked wonderfully to her favor. That and plus the fact that she’s cute as a button and friendly with the right folks such as the Kevin Rose and work at Laughing Squid.
Few can replicate this.
Uh, what Carl? When opened, the MBP’s Apple logo is oriented “right-side-up.” The front edge in this pic is the hinge end.
Ah I didn’t know that. Every other laptop has an upside-down logo! I always thought it was stupid. Leave it up to Apple to think of something to improve the looks of their products
So this may not be fake. It’s still rather lame.
Read the post and then was thinking for a minute that the idea was a good one but the thing is just not going to work – Why ?
1. There are going to be ads every square inch – who on earth can recognize between logo’s that close
2. Ads are seen best only when she is not using it – which I presume is not that often
3. Very small local players might be interested but never ever think that any biggie would be interested to buy space for a small local coverage at the price of $X per square inch
I think its quite a good idea ~ maybe I am alone
)
By the way Carl, hate to tell you but Dell Laptops also have the logo so when opened it appears the correct way. Infact I can’t think of one that doesn’t.
I just check the notebook MSI sent me and the logo is is right side up when the lid is open. The same for my Dell XPS gaming notebook.
I’ll say again that she had a great idea and capitalized on it but it can’t be repeated.
This idea is based on the publicity she generates by doing it, the “novelty effect” as it were.
No one who paid for advertising space expects to gain from her using it in public. They expect to gain as pictures of the computer circulate around the ‘net as the story gains it’s quick 15 minutes of fame.
really cool idea, i just wonder how she forced people to buy these ad spots for so much money. may be the nice face and gendre makes it all
Martin,
You may have struck the nail on the head there. Perhaps she was selling advertising with “perks” !!!
We’ll know if some overweight over the hill guys tries something similar and fails.
great concept, good idea from that girl
Great idea! I wonder if she approached Apple to ask if they to pay her for ‘displaying’ their logo
But such a move will only succeed, if the advertisers respond.
To the guy who thinks the buzz will wear off, people have been always displaying logos. She was smart to monetize it.
An old idea. Judge Ito did this during the Simpson trial
Sony paid him millions and no one has heard of him since.
HaHa
Must have missed this post – great way to pay for a MacBook