VerbaLearn Inc. co-founder Nathan Barr may soon regret his recent bravado. At a company meeting last week, he remarked that the current marketing strategy would take months for VerbaLearn’s Facebook fan page to reach 1,000 fans. In response to another employee’s assertion that it could happen before the end of the year, Barr joked that he would jump in the ocean during a blizzard if that happened. To his surprise, the VerbaLearn marketing team took him seriously and is now holding Barr to his word.
“Nate is always making crazy statements around the office,” said co-founder James Potter, who leads the marketing department. “Normally, we just ignore it, but this time we wanted to force him to actually follow through with what he said. We are really hoping we can win this one.”
As of this morning, visitors to the VerbaLearn website were presented with a new banner announcing the bet. “The marketing team went behind my back and updated the website; they are getting really creative,” said Barr. “The business side of me really wants to see this succeed, but the rational side of me is a little freaked out how cold this will be. I mean, a blizzard is cold. Jumping in the ocean in January is really cold. But jumping in the ocean during a blizzard in January sounds really, really cold.”
Facebook enables individuals and companies to create “Pages”, which allow other users to “become a fan” of the product, service, or concept. VerbaLearn, which produces advanced vocabulary building products, uses its Facebook page to message fans with a “word of the day”. The words are typical of the vocabulary tested on standardized exams like the SAT, ACT, and the GRE, for which VerbaLearn offers test prep courses.
A statement released yesterday to Facebook fans appealed for their help in winning the bet. The message read, “Tell your friends to become a fan of VerbaLearn.com and if we get 1,000 fans by Jan. 1st, he is getting wet (and cold)!” The message went on to promise that a video of the event would be posted on YouTube and Facebook, if the marketing team perseveres.
“We are hoping people will join our cause so that they can watch him jump in the ocean during a blizzard,” said Potter. “We’
John Sarantakis, who went to college with Barr and Potter and now works in publishing, said he has posted messages on Facebook to urge his friends to become a fan of VerbaLearn.com. “I want to make this happen so I can pelt Nate with snowballs when he runs across the beach,” said Sarantakis.
Potter stated that should Barr lose the bet and be forced to jump in the ocean, they are planning to make him hold off until a big storm hits. Judging by the company’s geographical location – Massachusetts – the wait will not be very long. “When a Nor’easter hits, we’ll make Nate dive in during the height of the storm. He’ll be wading through a foot of snow just to get to the water,” promised Potter.
To become a fan of “VerbaLearn.com”
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Additional Information:
• The National Oceanographic Data Center recorded the Atlantic Ocean water temperature as reaching down to 36°F along the coast of Boston last winter.
• The U.S. Search And Rescue Task Force website lists approximate survival time for near freezing water as 15 minutes and claims amnesia can set in when the body temperature drops by as little as 4°F.
• In 2003, one blizzard dropped 27.5 inches, setting a record for the city of Boston.
• Four years ago, Boston’s Logan International Airport reported a record one-month snowfall for January with 42.2 inches.
