The Everywhere Girl is Everywhere

April 14, 2008 4:00 AM

A couple years ago, The Inquirer noticed that the same college student was endorsing competitors Dell and Gateway. Readers started mailing examples of her selling UPS, Hewlett-Packard, Siemens, Ford, Siemens, CNN, Greyhound, and quite a few others. After being dubbed The Dell Girl, she was promoted to The Everywhere Girl. People critized her shallow commitments to the universities she endorsed. Nonstop appearances across most of the western world must have been fatiguing. She's even in high demand among Christian and textbook publishers.

So who is The Everywhere Girl ? She's Jennifer Anderson. She has a blog and a Flickr account. She keeps track of her appearances since discovering her popularity three years ago. And she provides a story of the photo session that launched a thousand ad campaigns. [via Superpatron]

posted by ardgedee (33 comments total)

Only three years ago? We spotted her in 2004, see Top ten reasons we hate using stock - #134 and there's another gal who was everywhere at the time, known as Alicia sporting a truly bizarre dress in nearly every shot.
posted by dabitch at 4:09 AM on April 14, 2008 [3 favorites]

It's the new Economy!!! Soon we'll all be pushing product and taking micropayments for promotion and product placements instead of working jobs!! Celebrity is the new currency!!! This means the end of the business cycle and no more recessions 4ever.

Doh.

2005, meet 2008.
posted by psmealey at 4:25 AM on April 14, 2008

Generic celebrity via Getty Images. I can hardly wait for Entertainment Tonight to report that one of the more ubiquitous stock images models has gone into rehab. At a no-name clinic, of course.
posted by wendell at 4:34 AM on April 14, 2008 [2 favorites]

poor girl
posted by Pia at 4:35 AM on April 14, 2008

simply a new twist to old ad routine. Years ago I used to deliver scripts for an ad agency to a few standard people who delivered via radio the ads for a lot of products. These people made a career reciting scripts. Their voices or whatever were considered useful for selling the products. Now it is visual and thus easier to spot these ad people.
posted by Postroad at 4:46 AM on April 14, 2008

I loaded up my ruby-colored 1972 VW Squareback (the station wagon version of the Beetle) and headed off to Reed College.

Nevermind the girl, where are the pictures of the squareback?
posted by octothorpe at 4:55 AM on April 14, 2008 [3 favorites]

I have learned something today -- that is, the existence of an activity called hooping. I'm oddly intrigued.
posted by loiseau at 5:06 AM on April 14, 2008

These all came from a single photo session? A cursory glance finds 4 or 5 different hairstyles and colors. Can photoshop do that much?
posted by DU at 5:10 AM on April 14, 2008

I've also noticed Helvetica font in a few different ads for totally unrelated products. It reminds me of the time I saw two ads with lots of white space in the SAME issue of Time. Weird. Sorry, I can't find a link to the white space's blog.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 5:24 AM on April 14, 2008

Can photoshop do that much?
There's a reason why ‘photoshop&rsquo is verb.
posted by signal at 5:45 AM on April 14, 2008

I have learned something today -- that is, the existence of an activity called hooping . I'm oddly intrigued.

That's REALLY old school. And lampooned since in the movies (you know, for kids).

Now please remove your personage from my landscaped property!
posted by SteveInMaine at 5:54 AM on April 14, 2008 [1 favorite]

I have learned something today -- that is, the existence of an activity called hooping.

hula hooping - it goes WAY back to the 50s - there was a time when just about every american household had one
posted by pyramid termite at 6:00 AM on April 14, 2008

pyramid termite: I have learned something today -- that is, the existence of an activity called hooping.

hula hooping - it goes WAY back to the 50s - there was a time when just about every american household had one

Yeesh, I know about hula hooping. Duh. What I did not know was that it's been in a resurgence as a sport known just as "hooping". And popular with Burning Man types, according to Wikipedia. Follow the related links on the Youtube video I linked above (or actually just look at what I linked) and you'll see about a zillion twentysomethings hula-hooping to music.
posted by loiseau at 6:05 AM on April 14, 2008

Slack-a-gogo> I've also noticed Helvetica font in a few different ads for totally unrelated products. It reminds me of the time I saw two ads with lots of white space in the SAME issue of Time. Weird. Sorry, I can't find a link to the white space's blog.

I'm noticing that various cities seem to have an official font; a typeface that is disproportionately popular in that region compared to other parts of the country or world. In Buffalo and Cleveland, you'll see Brush Script everywhere. In Montreal, Mistral is the modal typeface. In the UK, the entire country seems to embrace Gill Sans as the One True Typeface.
posted by elmwood at 6:25 AM on April 14, 2008

I can't wait til' she's the 'Everywhere Cougar.' Rowwr! That gal will go places when she overcomes her shyness.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 6:42 AM on April 14, 2008

In the UK, the entire country seems to embrace Gill Sans as the One True Typeface.

Well, Transport for London uses New Johnston everywhere, and I think many people use Gill Sans because it looks so similar.
posted by grouse at 6:57 AM on April 14, 2008

In the UK, the entire country seems to embrace Gill Sans as the One True Typeface.

It is indeed ubiquitous nowadays, mostly spurred the BBC's use of it, I suppose. And every time I see it I'm reminded of that old perv in a smock shagging his entire family, including the dog. Thank you, diligent biographer of Eric Gill, thank you so much.
posted by jack_mo at 6:58 AM on April 14, 2008

Oh yeah, that too.
posted by grouse at 7:04 AM on April 14, 2008

Matt, jessamyn, cortex, and pb are the same person. It's all done with Photoshop.
posted by lukemeister at 7:14 AM on April 14, 2008

shit man, back in high school, everyone did her.
posted by quonsar at 7:26 AM on April 14, 2008 [2 favorites]

Sure, but where is she when the phone rings at 3:00am?
posted by The Bellman at 7:35 AM on April 14, 2008 [4 favorites]

loiseau, I'm with you...I just spent far too many minutes (uh...like more than 60) perusing "hooping" vids and tutorials. And oddly intrigued is a perfect description for what I'm feeling, right now.

Also, I did a few stock photo shoots for textbooks in the 70's and 80's (same deal: one time payment, royalty-free. I was a token ethnic minority in a helluva lot of black & white classroom shots! And I was also the girl fixing her own damned bike/skateboard/lamp. I guess the photographer was going for a post-Rosie the Riveter or proto-grrrl.) Anyway, this post made me wonder whether all those books are out of print, now.
posted by squasha at 8:04 AM on April 14, 2008

"The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Please contact the server administrator, [e-mail] and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error."

Everywhere Girl is now Nowhere on the Joey Coleman Intertubes.
posted by drstein at 8:12 AM on April 14, 2008

Several years and quite a few pounds ago, a friend of mine earned some money freelancing as a plus-size model. She sold the picture rights to a stock photo agency and happily took the money, full in the knowledge that they'd be using the pictures for any need.

Since then, her pictures have been discovered in quite a few strange places, from a Weekly World News story (she apparently ran a dating service for chubby chasers, if memory serves) to a rather ignominious advertisement for plus-sized toilet seats. However, she also got on the cover of an edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves which I think is pretty cool. While not as ubiquitous as The Everywhere Girl, I find both their bemused takes on the nature of unknown appearances quite amusing.
posted by Spatch at 8:12 AM on April 14, 2008

I've had to use her photos for work, too. I see the people I first saw in a Getty images "Boardroom Professionals" set more, though. Hey, Diversity Girl. What's going on here, eh? Yesterday you were in a suit. Now you're in scrubs. Sometimes I feel like I don't know you anymore!
posted by katillathehun at 8:18 AM on April 14, 2008

In the late 90s, George Chen was paid $500.00 USD for a set of photographs which were licensed for print ads and web banners. Though he considered his involvement as harmless, George's likeness became the literal face of the Dot-Com Era, as retailers, technology consultants, music venues and nonprofits appended their promotions with depictions of George giving the thumb's up sign, or jamming with a set of headphones. If only for a brief moment in tech history, the virtual George Chen was the humanoid equivalent of the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.
posted by Smart Dalek at 9:00 AM on April 14, 2008

This reminds me of the MacWarehouse catalog from the early 90's, which always had the same Time-Life-Operator-style woman on the cover. She was also on the cover of every related catalog... MacConnection, MicroWarehouse, etc.
posted by Wild_Eep at 9:02 AM on April 14, 2008

Sorry, here's the link: George Chen's likeness.
posted by Smart Dalek at 9:02 AM on April 14, 2008

quonsar,
At least she didn't marry him.
posted by lukemeister at 9:22 AM on April 14, 2008

I'm rather relieved to hear those classmates.com picture people were former employees and willingly volunteered their pictures, considering the defamation suit brought over the set of "Mrs. Munger's Class" animated shorts.
posted by Spatch at 9:31 AM on April 14, 2008

I've never heard of this girl, but basically, she's like, what, a model? So she sells her face and endorsements to advertisers? Someone please explain to me why this is a scandal. (Or am I missing something here.) Isn't this what models do?
posted by nax at 10:01 AM on April 14, 2008

It's not a scandal, nax. It's a silly Internet phenomenon.
posted by grouse at 10:03 AM on April 14, 2008

Metafilter: It's not a scandal. It's a silly Internet phenomenon.
posted by lukemeister at 10:39 AM on April 14, 2008