go to http://www.espn.com

turn off ad / pop up blockers

while on the page, user your keyboard to enter the faaaamous konami/contra code:

up up down down left right left right B A B A

fuck off

yeah, klinton!

So what was supposed to happen?

You were supposed to fuck off. Are you not paying attention?

The wireless people thought fear was riddled for curtains

Quit trying to steal Nowhereman's gimmick. It won't win you his love.

aww, it doesnt work anymore

ESPN.com, the Konami Code, and a Whole Lotta' Ponies
David Murphy

• I can't make this stuff up. Some Web designer over at ESPN.com is either in for a promotion for "best unicorn-related viral promotion for ESPN," or said designer is about to get escorted off the premises.
  
  Why's that?
  
  Some clever tipster leaked to Web gaming site Kotaku that inputting the Konami Code on ESPN's home page brings up a joke that's sure to go right next to Slashdot's "OMG Ponies" redesign in the Web Pranks Hall of Fame. What's the Konami Code, you ask? It's that famous cheat code that one could input on a host of Konami games on the original Nintendo Entertainment System: up-up-down-down-left-right-left-right-b-a-b-a
  
  Don't believe me? Try it. Surf on over to ESPN. Wait for the home page to load, then carefully press the aforementioned series of keys on your keyboard.
  
  Provided ESPN hasn't nuked the functionality from its site, the Web page will transform into an overlay smorgasbord of pretty ponies and sparkling unicorns. The header text of some ESPN articles will turn pink and the word "Sparkly" will appear before the actual words in some instances.
  
  My favorite addition? The fact that the ESPN logo itself now gets "lovely" branded before the title. How cute.
  
  [UPDATE 8:44 p.m.] ESPN has killed their Web ponies (and presumably fired one errant designer), but you can still access the magic by hitting up a Google cache of the site and inputting the code. Why ruin the magic, ESPN? Why?

I heard it works if you use the google cache thingie.

Oh, I just read. Funny! And I bet it increased the shit out of their traffic. And how do they reward such enterprising and innovative thinking? They fire him.

Corporate bureaucracy at work, my friends...

Yes, because ESPN is well known for promoting sparkling ponies and unicorns.

Increased traffic = better for ESPN

That's the only logic marketing ever uses for selling things, so it's got to applicable across the board. Remember when everyone made that Brad Pitt movie "Meet Joe Black" so much money because fans kept buying tickets to be able to see the Star Wars Ep. I preview? Same difference. I'm pretty sure the studios didn't care that MJB wasn't made to promote Star Wars. They were just happy with the cash...

Completely different. It actually hurts their ad revenue. When you sell adviews based off a demographic that is targeted at certain ads and then you get xzillion amount of views with no result your ad rate decreases.

No, but, then again, I'm heterosexual.

I should ad that Pro's theory would make sense with an unknown entity but since ESPN is the recognized place for sports your not going to get any sports fans(who would respond to the advertising) discovering this because of the story but rather people that will eat up ad views without a favorable action.

screen shot!

Okay, now that I buy. I can see where no one that went there to check out the ponies is going to go buy a Red Sox jockstrap (except Joe, for his manboob), so I can understand where it won't make them any money. But, wouldn't the site-hits actually count for something? Isn't that what they're looking for on the surface?



You....don't remember that happening because you're heterosexual?

If they were some no-names start-up site, yeah. But who the fuck doesn't know ESPN? The increased traffic hasn't produced more revenue only eaten up their bandwidth, making it slower to load for the people who regularly come to the site and possible click their ad links to buy shit. Had the code done something sports related to draw in more of the ESPN demographic who probably would have stuck around and clicked ad links, you might have a point. But the guy put up ponies and unicorns so he's fired.

http://konamicodesites.com/

This is the new rick roll.