We love football player/reality star/social media whore Chad Ochocinco (nee Johnson), even if he plays for he Bengals. In fact, we’d buy his Ochocinco’s cereal if it were available here in NYC. Alas, it’s not… And now it’s being taken off shelves at grocery stores in Ohio because a phone number intended to push people to a kids charity actually belongs to a phone sex line.
According to Cincinnati.com:
The number on the boxes, 1-800-HELP-FTC, connects callers to a seductive-sounding woman’s voice and music. She teases in shocking detail and then asks for a debit or credit card number: “You must be 18 or older to get into this party, baby!”
A portion of proceeds from the official, limited edition cereal of the Bengals wide receiver goes to Feed The Children organization. According to their website, the correct number is 1-888-HELP-FTC.
Feed The Children has accepted responsibility for the typo, claiming they didn’t even know about the existence of the 1800 number.
Let’s hear from the outspoken wide receiver himself:
I’ve been part of the organization and been doing things to help bring awareness to the causes. Having the cereal was another way… Anyone I’ve affected I really do apologize. Some people got a laugh out of it, others are upset.
It’s a little bit of a negative but it sheds a positive light on what I’m doing. They have to get the right number 1-888-Help FTC. Not 800. If you dial 800 you’re on your own.
Chad Ochocinco cereal box connects with sex line [Cincinnati.com]
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Are they being pulled for stickers or is the product being destroyed? I’m assuming shipping the cereal back for repackaging would be expensive (various expiration dates would have to be kept, etc).
HOpefully they’ll just send them to second run groceries. If they destroy them, it will become pig feed probably – which isn’t such a waste but still.. kind of a waste.
How can you call it a waste if you’re turning a box of preservatives and HFCS into delicious bacon?
“It’s made in Pittsburgh,” Ochocinco said with a laugh. “It makes you think.”
Possibly disgruntled Steelers fans behind this one?
Whoa, take a look at this quote from Chad Ochocinco: “In a positive light, it’s bringing more attention not just to Feed the Children and the cereal but also myself. I hope people do understand it’s something good.”
I do hope he is right and the publicity helps his cause, but I think it’s sad that he points out that this was ALSO bring more attention to himself as if it was even more important.
Also brings more attention to sex lines.
He changed his name to OchoCinco (85) and you think he ISN’T a self-absorbed git?
Oh, jeez, I had no idea who this guy was and I thought he changed his name to “oh-chock-ink-oh” and couldn’t imagine why.
I just came from reading the onion and I was confused for a good long time about whether this was a joke
Irony is, they could make a lot more money if they could use the phonesex line. Charity’s not without it’s rewards.
Although we don’t know what the intended meaning of “Ochocinco’s” was, don’t you get the feeling that the person coming up with the name wanted it to be plural instead of possessive?
They’re OchoCinc-ohs. It’s a play on words like Cheery-ohs. They’re Cheery ohs.
But, even if the apostraphe is misplaced it could be possessive. They’re his Honey Nut toasted oats.
who cares?
http://motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/2010/09/24/national-punctuation-day-again/
Too bad his name was not “Sesentanueve” The phone sex line would have been more fitting.
Well we can all be glad he changed his name. No one wants their kids to start the day with a heaping bowl of johnsons.
But… Could they give the recalled boxes to hungry children? Or would that be inappropriate?
Actually, that’s what usually happens. They will ship them to a food bank that agrees to cover/cut off the number before distributing them.
This is probably the best article on the internet today.
Yay, and just when I needed a good phone sex line and charity too….
Actually its really common for phone sex companies to pick up the 800/877/888 numbers. The Technical/Customer Support for my company is an 877 number, if you call the 800 or 888 numbers its a phone sex line.
Imagine my surprise when I learned this when I was calling the support team with a customer and a phone sex line comes on… at this point, its a practical joke when new guys come into the company and you get them to call on their cell phones.
Shouldn’t they be called OchoCinc Hoes?
I guess the F in FTC stands for something else.
+1
I work for a prepress company that does mostly food packaging. There’s a reason we call any new phone number and check any web site address that shows-up on our clients’ packaging.
(As a side note, that’s some pretty b-grade prepress work. Look at the center of the cereal floater closest to the “8″ on his jersey. The center isn’t clipped-out. They forgot to make a compound path when they cut the clipping path.)
I think that’s just a consequence of the drop shadow.
My guess is the remaining product will end up at someplace like 99 Cents Only Stores – the home of bargains with typos.
If the sex line as language options including Spanish and Vietnamise I’ll make a fortune.
First correction (due to sticking keyboard):
If the sex line HAS language options including Spanish and Vietnamise THEY’ll make a fortune.
(As for the typo of “I’ll”, I guess it’s wishful thinking: Earning lots of loot AND having people think I’m a sex stud – what a concept!)