The 'Big Sister' Mash-Up Maker's New Account
Thursday, April 26, 2007; Page C01
Phil de Vellis, the man behind the viral mash-up that starred Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as " Big Sister," is back! This time, he has Paul Wolfowitz spliced in as Michael Scott in NBC's "The Office."
Big Sister became a YouTube blockbuster as the apparent work of an anonymous grass-roots backer of Sen. Barack Obama. When it turned out that de Vellis, 33, worked for the online strategy firm advising Obama, he was fired. Now he's been hired by an advocacy group to concoct this virtual hit on Wolfowitz, who's struggling to stay at the helm of the World Bank after recent disclosures that he orchestrated a generous pay package for his girlfriend, a bank employee. (On Monday he said he's considering hiring a "coach" to help him change his leadership style.)
A petition on the MoveOn spinoff Avaaz.org-- the group claims the name means "voice" or "song" in several languages -- calls for Wolfowitz's resignation and lists more than 45,000 signatures from 189 countries. We chatted with de Vellis about his latest viral zinger, appropriately titled " The Bank."
-- Jose Antonio Vargas
When I was writing about the Big Sister mash-up, I must have e-mailed you 20, 25 times. Never got an e-mail back. Zilch. Zero. Nada. And now . . .
But I didn't respond to anyone. I'm sorry. I had to keep my anonymity. You know, I just heard about this new term -- e-mail bankruptcy.
Say what?
A lot of prominent people online get a ton of e-mails, and they feel horrible about not responding. So they publicly declare e-mail bankruptcy and ask for forgiveness.
Okay, fine, I forgive you. . . . Are you rich now, too?
Umm . . .
You know, from making this new mash-up. You must have gotten paid a lot, right?
