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She's the Elusive Apple of the Web's Eye
Fans can only imagine who the teen in a Mac ad really is. And do they ever.

By SUSAN CARPENTER
TIMES STAFF WRITER
Ellen Feiss is famous because her dad's computer ate her homework. Not famous in a can't-walk-down-the-street-with-out-being-noticed kind of way, but famous in that Warholian every-body-will-have-their-15-minutes sense.
Feiss, a student, is one of the stars of Apple Computer's "switch" ad campaign, which features real people who have switched from PCs to Macintoshes. During her 30-second spot, she describes her PC experience as "kind of a bum-mer" and imitates her "berserk" computer going "beep beep beep."
Interest in Feiss is intense; infor-mation about her elusive. Apple won't divulge any details, aside from verifying she is a real teen-ager, but that hasn't stopped thou-sands of admirers from discussing her online, building tribute Web sites and selling T-shirts, Frisbees, wall clocks, mouse pads, mugs and wallpaper—all emblazoned with her image.
Dressed slacker casual in a zip-up sweatshirt, her wind-swept hair pulled back from her face to reveal clear skin, full lips and cocker-spaniel eyes, Feiss would probably have slipped under the radar if she weren't so darned cute. But there's another reason for her popularity: Her slightly slurred speech and reddish eyes have led to much speculation online as to whether or not she is stoned on marijuana -something that has made Feiss even more popular.
"We just thought she seemed like a cool, funny girl who deserved a little shrine," said Jake Brown, 30, founder of the Chicago-based Ellen Fan Club at ellenfeiss.glorious noise.com. "I wanted to build a place for all the other Ellen lovers to share their thoughts with each other."
And share they have, posting comments that are pro-Feiss and anti-Feiss, pro-drug and anti-drug, pro-Mac and anti-Mac.
"Does anybody know if she's available to book for parties?" asked one fan on the Glorious Noise site.
"Ellen Feiss for president! Woo-hoo!" declared another.
"I think the 'really good paper' she is referring to are her Zig-Zags," deadpanned another.
"That's it? For this she's famous? Save often, lady," wrote one skep-tic.

Ad Never Made It to TV
It's hard to believe so much has been read into a 30-second com-mercial, especially one that has never aired on television. The spot debuted at the MacWorld Expo on July 17 and has appeared only on the Apple Web site since. But, thanks to postings on various Web logs, Web sites and news groups that link to Apple's site, the Feiss video is making the rounds.
About 25,000 people have visited Brown's fan site since he set it up last month, but Brown isn't surprised. "It's one of those things that people love to talk about, said Brown, who is careful to point out that he is happily married and not a "stalker maniac weirdo." "The El-len ad is like a sweet, harmless ver-sion of 'The Osbournes' or 'The Anna Nicole Smith Show.'"
Michael Grant, a 22-year-old network administrator in Houston, saw the Feiss ad two weeks ago af-ter finding a link to it online. Thinking the ad was very funny and that Feiss is "cute in the extreme," he downloaded the wallpaper from the Glorious Noise site so that every time he logs on to his computer, Feiss is staring at him from his computer screen.
Brandon Caballero, a 19-year-old computer major at Texas A&M University, also saw the ad a few weeks ago, but he took his appre-ciation one step further. He set up the ellen feiss. net fan site.
Like many of her fans, who are, not surprisingly, young and male, Caballero was hoping he might get an e-mail from her. In the three weeks his site has been up, he's received hundreds of messages from fellow fans, but he hasn't heard from Feiss. He's still hoping.
"It would be nice," said Caballero. "I've never met any celebrities before."

Not Releasing Details
Apple is cautious in releasing in-formation about Feiss, probably because she is a minor.
"She's just a teenager who loves her Mac," is all the company will say. An Apple spokesperson ini-tially indicated Feiss was from L.A. but later recanted.
Apple's refusal to release any ad-ditional information has just fueled Feiss' fans, prompting one of them to create a fake interview, another to make a video remix of the commercial and some people who know her in real life to post old yearbook pictures online.
Still, it's hard to know who Feiss is. What's more amazing is that people even care, but reality—or the imitation of it—is in, as the popularity of shows such as "Survi-vor," "The Bachelor" and "Fear Factor" can attest.
"One of the difficulties for marketers is that kids are real hip to be-ng marketed to," said Tobi Elkin, a technology reporter for Advertising Age magazine. "[They] have to sort of do this anti-marketing marketing, and the use of real people may just be in that vein."
And Feiss is nothing if not real. The way she looks, talks and acts does not seem at all contrived, which is why she has been so embraced. But whether Feiss' 30-second ad spot can extend her fame beyond 15 minutes—or whether she has any interest in that happening—remains to be seen.
"It all depends on Ellen now," said fan club founder Brown. "If she would like to come forward and talk about herself, I'm sure she could be in the public eye for a longtime."

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666th poster and 666th thread-creator
Mod of the Mac II series Forums
Total 68K Macs liberated: 7
I Have No Legs!

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The L.A. Times, anyway. Thanks to Slartibartfast at the AAF, here's a complete transcript of an article about her that appeared in today's copy of the L.A. Times:

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She's the Elusive Apple of the Web's Eye
Fans can only imagine who the teen in a Mac ad really is. And do they ever.

<snip>

"It all depends on Ellen now," said fan club founder Brown. "If she would like to come forward and talk about herself, I'm sure she could be in the public eye for a longtime."

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that's great :rolleyes: by monday there'll be a flood of photoshopped FeissPr0n all over the freakin' web!

or am i missing out on som . . .

jt ™.
Trash Hauler: call sign: eight-ball
C.O. AC-130H SpecOps 68kMLAAF

The interesting thing is that Apple hinted to Feiss being located in L.A. Well, the reason I also think she might be is because the owner of Cerritos Nissan (a large Nissan dealer here in L.A.) is named Peter Feiss...he might just be her father!

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The interesting thing is that Apple hinted to Feiss being located in

<censored>

...he might just be her father!

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jt ™.
Trash Hauler: call sign: eight-ball
C.O. AC-130H SpecOps 68kMLAAF

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Nobody ever set up a fan site for the Dell dude, AFAIK. APPLE ROCKS THE HOUSE!

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Edited by - Trash80toG-4 on 23 Aug 2002 16:49:42

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That's because Steve is a great big, giant Donkey (or another name for one, anyway)!

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wait a minute, i hope you mean on of those other two and NOT the woz!

jt ™.
Trash Hauler: call sign: eight-ball
C.O. AC-130H SpecOps 68kMLAAF

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wait a minute, i hope you mean on of those other two and NOT the woz!

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Edited by - cinemafia on 23 Aug 2002 17:07:18

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Nobody ever set up a fan site for the Dell dude, AFAIK. APPLE ROCKS THE HOUSE!

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i'd guess there are probably more than a few, check it out!

___________________________________________________________

google hits for "dell dude" 1,190
google hits for "ellen feiss" 144

first hit: DELL - Customized, Top Performing PCs Direct from Dell™
first hit: Ellen Feiss Loves Naked Dwarves!

___________________________________________________________

proving once again thru rigorous scientific analysis that: while they may only jiggle the house a little, mac users are definitely more fun!

jt ™.
Trash Hauler: call sign: eight-ball
C.O. AC-130H SpecOps 68kMLAAF

Edited by - Trash80toG-4 on 23 Aug 2002 16:49:42

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btw: that attribution would be Napoleon Bonaparte or the Bard, IIRC.

-Danny Canadian Sniper Squadron 3 stars.
---------------------------
Servers: afp://* ftp://* hotline://*
"The Site"

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So, was it "bummer" or "FUBAR"?

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that really depends, it's a VERY strange and unpredictable phenomenon!

jt ™.
Trash Hauler: call sign: eight-ball
C.O. AC-130H SpecOps 68kMLAAF

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So, was it "bummer" or "FUBAR"?

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that really depends, it's a VERY strange and unpredictable phenomenon!

jt ™.
Trash Hauler: call sign: eight-ball
C.O. AC-130H SpecOps 68kMLAAF

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that really depends, it's a VERY strange and unpredictable phenomenon!

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Official 68kMLA Music and NeXT Expert
OpenStep Page at http://openstep.topcities.com/
Macs Liberated: SE (2), IIsi, PB 145b, Quadra 700, 6100 (2), PB 5300, PowerMac 5400/200, Performa 6400/180
PCs liberated from Windoze: 3

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wait a minute, i hope you mean on of those other two and NOT the woz!

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Of course not!

And hey, who doesn't love naked dwarves? I got a couple in my apartment right now keeping the place spic and span...

666th poster and 666th thread-creator
Mod of the Mac II series Forums
Total 68K Macs liberated: 7
I Have No Legs!

Edited by - cinemafia on 23 Aug 2002 17:07:18

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wait a minute, i hope you mean on of those other two and NOT the woz!

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Of course not!

And hey, who doesn't love naked dwarves? I got a couple in my apartment right now keeping the place spic and span...

666th poster and 666th thread-creator
Mod of the Mac II series Forums
Total 68K Macs liberated: 7
I Have No Legs!

Edited by - cinemafia on 23 Aug 2002 17:07:18

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Yeah, every macaddict loves dirk the midget!

____________________________________
Weapons Expert VanMan2004
68k Macintosh Liberation Army
Number of 68ks Liberated: 15.5

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wait a minute, i hope you mean on of those other two and NOT the woz!

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Of course not!

And hey, who doesn't love naked dwarves? I got a couple in my apartment right now keeping the place spic and span...

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Yeah, every macaddict loves dirk the midget!

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Wha? Who is that?

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On average a full 2 pill dose of Sudafed has psychotropic effects on me about 1 in 5 times.

/Mr Lynn

it's all in the editing and it deserves a Clio if they ever grow the stones to air it in the US!

IMHO, of course.

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Sudafed® is pseudoephedrine hydrochloride, a stimulant. Wouldn't have that soporific effect on Miss Feiss (is Apple using the real names of its 'switchers'?). Never heard of it having pschotropic effects more severe than caffeine, either, but I'll ask my wife (a doc).

/Mr Lynn
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68K's liberated: 1
68Ks adopted to loving homes: 2
PowerMacs adopted: 1

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Miss Feiss (is Apple using the real names of its 'switchers'?).

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666th poster and 666th thread-creator
Mod of the Mac II series Forums
Total 68K Macs liberated: 7
I Have No Legs!

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Sudafed® is pseudoephedrine hydrochloride, a stimulant. Wouldn't have that soporific effect on Miss Feiss (is Apple using the real names of its 'switchers'?). Never heard of it having pschotropic effects more severe than caffeine, either, but I'll ask my wife (a doc).

/Mr Lynn

Curator of: SE (6.0.4), SE w. 020 accelerator (6.0.8), SE w. no HD, IIfx (7.1), IIci (bad HD); plus various PPCs in family (blue G3/350 is main Mac these days).

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Warrior maclover5
68k Macintosh Liberation Army
Number of 68ks Liberated: 6

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I know that Sudafed is a stimulant, but there are other prescription allergy meds that will make you drowsy or dingy (even though they say they won't.) Several folks in my job have allergies and I know they don't use controlled substances, and depending on how bad a day they're having they can look and sound like her.

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It's alleged she'd taken Benadryl, which could explain a LOT. There's a great thread in MacAch over on Ars with links to fan sites and parodies. including a link to her appearance on NPR. my favorite has gotta be ellenmouse.mov (chipmunk voice effect overdub of real ad) followed closely by one of the print type ads which shall remain anonymous.

she's a media monster! a Letterman appearance can't be far off!

jt ™.
Trash Hauler: call sign: eight-ball
C.O. AC-130H SpecOps 68kMLAAF

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In the three weeks his site has been up, he's received hundreds of messages from fellow fans, but he hasn't heard from Feiss...... An Apple spokesperson ini-tially indicated Feiss was from L.A. but later recanted.

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Wonko The Sane
Engineer-in-training
3 Macs Liberated
"You can't possibly be a scientist if you mind people thinking that you're a fool."- Wonko The Sane

I've seen pictures that you post of your personal places, and to some, those pictures may make you SEEM like a person who has too much, I agree with trash,

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Comrades, I really don't think she was on any drugs at all, she didn't look all that different from half the exhausted, bored kids that trudge in and out of my kid's high school every day. after the 137th take, who wouldn't sound swacked? she's zoned out from utter boredom, the lights and the inane drivel of the adults been she's dealing with for 93.5 minutes after an 73 minutes of wardrobe and makeup!

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Official 68k videographer

Hell, it is an apple ad, and you'd think that apple would be pleased to see someone stoned out, after all, the mac was the brainchild of blasted apple engineers, and if you know your macworld expos, there is a place referred to as "the office" which is the designated area for people to have a joint or two. the information is on the iBong site, google around for ibong if you are interested

IMHO, it is FUBAR, it means something more funny than "a bummer" (for those that do not know, Fuc...erm...Fouled up beyond all recognition)

and ya, I think that we will see a dramatic rise of the Pr0n in the next few days, horrible paste ups that look that they were done in M$ paint. They are good for a laugh at other people's image editing abilities

phew!
</soapbox>

Who cares about who/what ellen feiss is like, the important issue is me and my actions in life. That's not a selfish statement, but a frame of mind.

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Who cares about who/what ellen feiss is like, the important issue is me and my actions in life. That's not a selfish statement, but a frame of mind.

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Wonko The Sane
Engineer-in-training
3 Macs Liberated
"You can't possibly be a scientist if you mind people thinking that you're a fool."- Wonko The Sane

The funniest post so far was the one on Ars about the slobbering reactions of a pack of geeks whenever anything vaguely female is flashe in front of them . . .

The more sadder cases would be all the "i'd do . . . " posts, but they're still good for a chuckle in most instances.

Humor and laughter are wonderful gifts and some of the most important tools in dealing with life. I don't think anybody has been particularly judgemental here, a little raucous at times, but enjoying "everygirl's" shot at fame and laughing at the silliness of the whole situation is a healthy reaction, IMHO.

Whatever . . . my cheeks get sore at times from grinning while following this stuff online, it doesn't get a whole lot better than that when it comes to entertainment!

[rant]
I think after debugging a certain amount of code and/or taking a certain number of AP classes concurrently, all parts of the brain pertaining to common sense and/or social skills turn to mush. However, it is possible to be a nerd and have a life. Especially if you're in band.
[/rant]

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I know, I know, but it's a pretty easy assumption. After all, Liza Richardson, a local L.A. radio DJ, was also in one of the Apple Ads. It seems that most of the people they used were located in L.A. or some major city in Cali.

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Proud Liberator of over 25 Macintoshes!

68k Macintosh Liberation Army Forums

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