Save Toby Book

You may recall the pathetic tale of SaveToby.com. I blogged on it previously here and here. A short recap: two uproariously funny dudes threatened to eat cute Toby the Rabbit unless we do what they want–initially, pay $50,000 by June 30, 2005; now, buy 100,000 copies of their side-splittingly funny book by November 2006 (one place on the website says Nov. 6; another place says Thanksgiving).

I’m not sure if these charlatans have ever told us the truth, but at least they did deliver on one promise–they published their book about Toby. You can buy it on Amazon for $10, but why would you do that? If you absolutely, positively have to read the book, make sure to BUY IT USED so that the charlatans don’t get another cent. (You can find used copies on Half.com and Amazon).

This likely will be my second-to-last posting about Save Toby. My last posting will be in November 2006 when I check in to see what happened. Here’s my prediction: the hucksters won’t sell 100,000 copies of their book (who the heck is buying this book anyway?), yet miraculously Toby will find a way to survive the latest pratfall. After all, I seem to recall a fable about killing the golden goose…er, golden rabbit… Then again, don’t be surprised if November 2006 brings yet another new peril to Toby’s well-being.

Meanwhile, read this expose on SaveToby and the copycats who lack both humor and originality.

Finally, the SaveToby story inspired my contracts exam question this year. Check out the fun my students had.