Looks like they really mean it this time; the BBC reports that Jeeves, the somewhat snooty mascot of Ask Jeeves, is about to get kicked to the curb in favor of a more "friendlier, knowledgeable face on the internet."
Perhaps they can get the Kool-Aid mascot to do double duty as the face of Ask as well; he seems to be pretty friendly except that he keeps busting through walls and inciting children to drink his sugar water that seriously could feed a large family of hummingbirds, it's got so much sugar in it.
Here's how I think it could work: innocent searchers could query Ask and all of a sudden right through the search results BAM! here comes Kool-Aid/Ask Man with their search results. Oh, Yeahhhhhh!!!
And in the spirit of Kool-Aid Man, here's some interesting facts about him and his sugar water (from the official KoolAid website):
- KOOL-AID Man traditionally wears a rainbow-striped shirt, jeans and sneakers. But his wardrobe varies according to the occasion.
- Today, one glass of KOOL-AID- which cost less than a penny a glass back in 1927- is still a bargain, costing less than a nickel a glass and beating the rate of inflation since 1947!
- Based on per capita sales, KOOL-AID is most popular in St. Louis, Missouri.
And back to Ask Jeeves: Read my review of Ask Jeeves for Kids, and ask the Butler...I mean, the "friendlier, knowledgeable face on the internet", to help you find game cheats.
I will find a new search engine, that sucks!
Now the market really sucks… they had to give an internet icon the boot because he was not hip enough. Hope the students I teach think I am hip enough to lead them in class… ouch.