Skip to main content

Facebook Hedgehog Mascot

Facebook Hedgehog Mascot - Facebook could have had a mascot. A blue, hedgehog, mascot.

Visions of Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog might come racing to mind.

The reason? Well, it seems Facebook was at one time considering creating a Yelp-like feature for businesses.

In an effort to get those businesses on board, Napster founder and former Facebook President Sean Parker wanted to pitch the concept using a likeable animal mascot, namely a blue hedgehog, according to former Facebook employee Ezra Callahan, who wrote about the scenario on the website Quora.

Callahan explained the ordeal in response to a question posed by a user of the website named Samir Ghobril.

As Callahan wrote on Quora:

True story: in the very early days of Facebook, Sean Parker wanted to make Facebook's mascot a hedgehog. We had early plans to build a local business program around each college on the site (a Yelp-like service similar to what later became Facebook Pages). As part of that, Sean wanted us to send each participating business a little blue stuffed hedgehog. Matt Cohler and I even sourced a couple companies to make them.
Sean actually wanted us to get a real hedgehog for the office. Turns out they aren't street legal in California, or something, but I guess he found a way to obtain one in Nevada. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your affinity for hedgehogs) Sean couldn't convince any of us to drive there to get one.

The local business program was shelved mid 2005 (we decided a revenue product wasn't as important after the Accel financing), and Sean let his dream of the hedgehog go with it.

If I'm not mistaken, a couple employees who live near the facebook campus own a hedgehog today. I won't name them in case they are, in fact, illegal, but I guess that sorta counts.

Facebook Hedgehog Mascot
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Contactless Debit Cards

Contactless Debit Cards - Contactless debit cards will make their formal debut in Canada next year with the launch of Interac Flash from Acxsys Corp.’s Interac Association, Canada’s national debit network. Interac’s first two Flash issuers are Scotiabank and RBC Royal Bank, which will roll out their first contactless cards next summer. The first acquirer is TD Merchant Services, a unit of Toronto-Dominion Bank. More issuers and acquirers are on the way, an Interac spokesperson tells Digital Transactions News, though no announcements have been made yet. Interac and the banks tested Flash this summer at some high-volume, small-ticket merchants in downtown Toronto. The spokesperson expects national merchants will be making formal announcements about acceptance. “There’s a lot of excitement in the merchant community,” she says. “Merchants are looking for that faster throughput.” In a statement, the Retail Council of Canada endorsed the new card. “Interac Flash is a welcome and needed ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Homes Losing Value Fastest

Homes Losing Value Fastest - Homeowners with Citigroup loans in foreclosure-rich Virginia Beach, Va., and Orlando, Fla., are in luck. The mortgage giant announced today that it will impose a moratorium on most foreclosures and modify $20 billion in mortgages to enable homeowners who are not behind on their loans, but in danger of falling behind, to avoid foreclosure. Those that don't fall under the plan? They're in hot water. Well, underwater. Virginia Beach homeowners who bought homes this year possess a paltry 5.2% of home equity, and 34.5% owe more on their property than it's worth, according to Zillow.com, a real estate research group. That's the worst rate in the country. Even in Orlando and Miami, two cities hammered by bad loans and home-equity dips, only 30% and 29% of homeowners are underwater, respectively. It's a similar story in El Centro, Calif., Bakersfield, Calif., and Cumberland, Md. What's certain to follow? Foreclosures. "Negative...
1 comment
Read more

'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' Home on the Market for $1.65M

'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' Home on the Market for $1.65M - "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" fans listen up! A home from the iconic '80's film is on the market for $1.65 million, reports the Huffington Post. Starring as the modern digs of character Cameron Frye in the movie, the glassy house is located in Highland Park, Illinois and has been on the market for a little over a year. More photos reveal the glass-wrapped home features floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a spacious tree-filled lot, according to the listing on Realtor.com. 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' Home on the Market for $1.65M With four bedrooms, three bathrooms and 5,300 square feet of living space, the home served as the setting for the oddball hijinks in the 1986 film. Architects A. James Speyer and David Haid designed the house, built in 1953, with a specialty glass-enclosed garage to store Ben Rose's collection of vintage cars, reported Luxist.com when the home or...
Post a Comment
Read more