springer.html

New Line of Infamous Meanies has Jerry
Springer Buzzing... 'I'm Honored!'

NEW YORK--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Jan. 21, 1999--
Jerry Stinger(tm), Moodonna(tm), Mallard Stern(tm),
Mick Jaguar(tm), Quack Nicholson and Dennis Rodmantis(tm)?
Celebrity Parodies Hit the Beanbag Doll Collecting World!
A talk show host bee named Jerry Stinger(tm)? A smirking duck
dubbed Quack Nicholson(tm) holding a bloody axe and wearing
sunglasses? A coned-udder cow called Moodonna(tm)? An insect bugging
to play basketball? Now add some beans and you get the Infamous Meanies(tm) beanbag
dolls! The idea factory, designer of the wildly successful Meanies(tm)
-- those rude and crude bean bag toys -- introduces six new inductees
to the Infamous Meanies(tm) series.

Jerry Springer was recently presented with his very own Jerry
Stinger(tm) beanbag doll, and deemed the character a distinguished and
worthy compliment. "I'm going to put this where my Oscar was going to
be'" said Springer. "You're no one in Hollywood until you're an
Infamous Meanie(tm) -- I've finally been immortalized!"
The latest generation of Meanies(tm) is beanbag dolls that parody
celebrities, created especially for teens and adults. In true
Meanies(tm) humor, the Infamous Meanies(tm) are animal parodies of
media figures that have gotten themselves into controversial or
embarrassing situations. The celebrity parodies, released just in time
for holiday gift giving, are making waves in the entertainment world.
"Initial sales reactions have been outrageous," reports Dave
Daniels at his Hub store in Fort Lee, NJ. "I opened the box and sold 7
sets in the first 10 minutes," enthuses Daniels.
The second series of characters, complete with distinctive
Meanies(tm) pun names, include: Mallard Stern(tm), Jerry Stinger(tm),
Moodonna(tm), Dennis Rodmantis(tm), Quack Nicholson(tm) and Mick
Jaguar(tm). On each of the Infamous Meanies(tm) is a hangtag with the
website address -- www.meanies.com, a limerick describing their "claim
to shame" tale and a "Mean 17" rating. This tongue and cheek "warning"
states product is intended for mature audiences with an IMMATURE SENSE
OF HUMOR.
Limericks include:

Mallard Stern(tm) - a talk radio duck with a t-shirt reading,
"Quack of all Media"
There is a mallard we are going to mock,
Although we all listen to this shock jock.
He shoots off his beak
about sex, gas and freaks,
We must admit he really does rock!

Dennis Rodmantis(tm) - a basketball playing pest complete with
tattoos and a red coif
His hair has been red, green, orange and taupe.
Some like to dis him, some think he's dope.
Though he dresses in drag,
Many rebounds he'll snag.
A new wedding dress is his biggest hope

The suggested Infamous Meanies(tm)retail price is between $7 -
$10 each. They are available through 5,000 specialty gift stores
nationwide.
Meanies(tm) mania continues to spread across America. According
to Lance Kushner, VP Sales, "parody and irreverence are hot -- the
Meanies(tm) are a natural response to this craze."
Adds Glenn Rudin, VP Marketing, "The Meanies(tm) have touched a
nerve with America. People who love bean bag dolls buy the Meanies(tm)
for their collectibility," Rudin said. "Then there are those people
who hate cute and cuddly stuff and are buying Meanies(tm) as a
backlash."
In October 1997, under license from Allen LeWinter and his
company, Topkat LLC, the first 12 Meanies(tm) -- Series 1 -- were
introduced to the bean bag collectible market. The collection was a
response to the bean bag toy craze, with an added edge of irreverence.
Initially targeted to boys ages 7-14, the Meanies(tm) took off and
became a big sensation with male and female teens and adults with a
sense of humor.
Original Meanies(tm) include Splat the Road Kill Kat(tm) (a cat
with tire tread marks on its flattened back) and Boris the
Mucousaurus(tm) (a dinosaur with a leaky snout). Series 2, launched in
May 1998, presented 12 new and even more outrageous characters than
the original collection - each with its own socially conscious
limerick. One of the leading stars from the second crew is Lucky the
Rabbit(tm) -- an angry one-footed creature whose missing left foot was
made into a good luck key chain. Also from Series 2 -- Bessie Got
Milked(tm) -- a cow inspired by a famous advertising campaign. This
heifer's worn out expression is a result of exhausting all her
resources for milk mustaches.