• by Masha Geller , June 24, 2002

To start off with a cliché, there’s never a dull day in Internet advertising. Just yesterday, the industry gathered around the water coolers (read: IM screens) to talk about rising consumer confidence, the new IAB ad campaign, and the new version of the Atlas DMT ad server.

Today, to balance things out a little, I thought I’d talk about something a bit more fun. The Pets.com Sock Puppet.

Why? Because he’s back. As the Associated Press reported yesterday, it wasn’t his first career choice, but one of the most recognizable icons of the dot-com era has a new agent and a gig with a California financing company.

Hakan & Associates, Inc., the same company that handles the comeback of Taco Bell’s famous Chihuahua, has just signed the Sock Puppet to a deal with 1-800-Bar None, a Pleasanton, Calif.-based company that provides car financing for people with bad credit.

Jim Crouse, chief executive of 1-800-Bar None, said he hopes the sock puppet will send the company's message – everyone deserves a second chance – "cleverly and with a touch of humor."

Hakan Enterprises, Inc. bought the rights to the icon in 2001 for $125,000 during the Pets.com liquidation.

The sock puppet will be featured in a series of television ads for 1-800-Bar None beginning next month.