For a magazine that spends a lot of time mocking lazy journalists in its Streets of Shame column, Private Eye [Disclosure: I am a subscriber] could do with setting its sights on its own Victor Lewis Smith. Charged every two weeks with the arduous tasking of “compiling” the Funny Old World section, it’s Victor’s job to find three real-life stories from newspapers, magazines or the Web that will leave readers in jaw-dropped disbelief. His task his made all-the-more easier because the stories are sent in by spotters, each of whom is creditted at the bottom of the quoted excerpt. Maybe Victor does it for free – if not, it must be the easiest paid-gig in publishing…
Anyway, LoveHoney was delighted to be featured in issue no 1180 (16-29 March) when Funny Old World regurgitated the best part of the press release we sent out to launch our search for a sperm testers to test an oral sex supplement that claimed to be able to change the taste of semen.
That was in June last year – so why has it taken so long for the story to be burped up in the pages of the Eye? Not that we’re complaining – the extra publicity is more than welcome.
It’s not quite as lame as the time a spotter “spotted” a story about a mad guy who held a press conference to announce that he was going to stand on a street corner and yell at traffic all day. The really funny thing about that Funny Old World story was that it first appeared in America’s Finest News Source The Onion.
Nice work if you can get it, Victor!
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So, is anyone blogging their blow-by-blog accounts?
Yes they did – we had two couples do it for a month in September last year (Private Eye a bit behind the times)…
LoveHoney Sperm Testers