An interesting item tweeted by @JonT
16http://www.wal.co.kr/shop/index.php
Google translate takes you only so far, but it looks like they pay for button clicks in cold hard won. Who is going to be first to set up an account? (Not me, thanks.)
- 33 comments, 62 replies
- Comment
Oh Shit, Meh is going Gangnam Style
@mfladd The fake Meh site isn't awesome enough to be Gangnam style. It barely qualifies as Gwanak style.
@Starblind What? I have been fooled? Damn you people. This is what I get for not having a twitter account.
@mfladd We just watched this video in the office. Oh the memories. Happy to add to the BILLIONS of the views that Gangnam Style has. Some really amazing moments in that video that I had totally forgotten about. Thanks for the nostalgia.
@ChadP I think it would be hilarious if all the Meh. staff members made their own version of the GS video..
Here is an example:
@mfladd Go Navy beat Army this weekend
@CaptAmehrican YES!!!
Well I guess this explains why the Koreans disappeared from the meh forums...
Hmm wonder if we can get Korean fukus LOL
I'm having trouble finding a reshipper from Korea to the US... Wal.
Prices destruction!
And if Wal means basically "meh", does it make Wal-mart unintentionally more crappy to Korean speakers in America?
In case it isn't obvious, this appears to be wholly independent of meh. @JonT tweeted, "Someone in Korea copied our website, like exactly..."
@gio I thought that was pretty obvious, but maybe others didn't. It's crazy that someone did that, though.
@PurplePawprints I was afraid the high-quality video might mislead people. ;-)
"Price destruction! Pebble straight ball water saving shower flag"
Are translators just really bad at translating contextually or is Korean so much different that my brain cant process it?
Also meh needs to use the phrase price destruction more often.
imitation is the sincerest form of flattery?
They have a customer service phone number, and if I am reading this correctly, everyday as more people purchase, successive buyers have a chance to win that day's product for free gratis (Deadwood reference).
So in those two ways alone they're considerably less Meh than Meh.
No baby arm
@ceagee ...yet.
I desperately want someone to explain how to set up accounts on their site so we can take over their forums with silliness!!
@curtise So, after thinking about this, it should be the same way you set up an account on Meh.com- they did clone it after all, and so account creation should be identical.
@dashcloud But do you feel comfortable giving your information to a company skeezy enough to steal Meh's site design? I thought about using a throw-away account but couldn't work up enough interest to bother.
@curtise We could post the images that I don't feel are right for Meh. Whoever the brave explorer is, let me know and I'll send you links. Come on, somebody is crazy enough to do it. That somebody is not me, though.
@curtise I've tried to setup an account but keep getting the error
"name must be entered without spaces Hangul only"* I've tried with and without spaces.
*Google Translate tells me this is what the error says, who knows if that is in fact what it says.
@Ignorant Try KimJongUn
This is the parent company:
http://gmarket.co.kr/ (Korean - for mainland delivery only)
http://global.gmarket.co.kr/Home/Main (English version of their global site)
(Same Korean business registration # as http://www.wal.co.kr/shop/index.php)
@Pavlov I've seen that exact website design before, too. I can't place it offhand, though. Hmm...
@djslack Yeah . . . the plot thickens . . . at the bottom of the global page is this little nugget:
Copyright © eBay Korea Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.
From the TOS:
This English translation is provided for your reference purposes only, and is not legally binding. Only a Korean version of the terms and conditions of Use of Shopping Services of Gmarket are legally binding.
Chapter 1. General Provisions
Article 1 (Purpose)
The purpose of these Terms and Conditions of Use of Shopping Services of Gmarket (the “T&C”) is to set forth the rights, obligations and responsibilities of the parties using the ecommerce-related services and other services (collectively “Services”) provided by eBay Korea Co., Ltd. (the “Company”) through the “Gmarket” internet open market site (www.gmarket.co.kr) (“Gmarket”) operated by the Company, and to promote mutual development through exercising and performing their rights and obligations pursuant to the T&C.
And in case there was any question - from their site:
We, eBay Korea Co., Ltd. (the “Company”), make much account of personal information of our customers using the services of the Internet site (www.gmarket.co.kr, “Gmarket”) operated by us. The Company’s privacy policy (this or the “Policy”) is set forth below.
So, @JonT - there's your "someone" who is copying you.
@Pavlov Wow. Surely eBay's lawyers would shit reams of solid gold cease-and-desists if someone just appropriated their entire site design verbatim. Yet they can do it?
@djslack Korea - its like a whole other Internet.
Plus, there's nothing to say that someone didn't just rip the business ID and put it in their own footer - or that mediocre is involved (I don't necessarily take the Twitter post for disavowment).
The only thing I didn't dig into was domain reg. records - but I'll look at them later tonight.
@JonT - Okay, the owner of the Wal site is not eBay - Duh. But what a slam dunk that would have been . . . The wal.co.kr site stripped the business ID from gmarket. But, they've updated their site's markup recently - in the last several hours. Possibly due to this thread. So I cached everything and starting sleuthing.
There is a connection between the principal of "Lime Factory" (Limefact) which is the true business owner of record for wal.co.kr. Lime Factory has sold air purifiers and other items on gmarket.
This took some serious digging but it appears that the spouse of Baek Doosan (Doo San?) who is listed as an owner of Lime Factory (AKA wal.co.kr) may be (read: is) VP level at ebay.co.kr. or their wholly owned subsidiary, gmarket. I just can't read Korean well enough to figure out which one.
So . . . I guess maybe imitation may be flattery, but Snapster could probably screen cap the site and file a WIPO (around $2500 the last time I did it) and shut them down and end up owning the domain possibly - it'll take a few weeks but WIPO may be the best way to go dealing with the overseas Registrars (if he is concerned with knocking them off).
Personally, I'd consider sourcing / selling them product, if it was cost effective and essentially license them, under a threat that they kick up a tribute and / or work with you or you WIPO them into oblivion. However, and not to disparage the Korean people, I haven't had a single deal in Korea where they didn't fuck me. So I'm on the fence, and I might just WIPO them. Plus, considering all the traffic from Korea, maybe you guys would be better off striking a deal with a freight forwarder and just shipping there.
Have fun!
@Pavlov NO DEAL, HOWIE!!
No deals with people who rip you off. That should just be an unwritten business rule. You can't trust them.
I'd say sue them for degradation of brand reputation. (I saw that on The Good Wife, so it should probably work here, too.)
@Pavlov Brilliant research there. If S Koreans are duped into thinking that site is related to meh, mediocre could lose a lot of revenue. Seems best to protect meh's reputation and find a way to make them change. Or at least add "Unofficial" to their name.
hey its got nano silver to inhibit bacteria how...... wal............
No clickfaces. Dealbreaker.
@KDemo There apparently is one, but they really make you work for it. This is from the FAQ page:
@Starblind
You're a dealbreaker breaker.
I helped them with the write-up. The original concept was a grim but redemptive Cormac McCarthy-ish tale told from various viewpoints and with different layers that fold in on themselves to form a more cohesive whole as the story is gradually revealed. In the end, the main character, left to die in a warehouse outside Flagstaff to atone for an unspeakable crime his son committed, finds out his cancerous tumour is actually a Stone Fastball water-saving showerhead, implanted inside him by the doctor whose wife he slept with in chapter 17. With only the end of the crowbar he used to rob the casino in chapter 22, he has to cut out the showerhead and save his own life before he can begin to redeem himself for those he crossed, but only after a long soliloquy in which he muses that the very thing others use to become clean has been corrupting him from within. In the end, leaving his 30% water cost saving burden in a bloody pool on the warehouse floor along with his sins, he staggers into the light, deeply wounded but finally free.
But it was too dark so they went with a writeup that's mostly total gibberish.
@Starblind - Was that Flagstaff, South Korea? Because I think I know where you lost them.
@Starblind They needed batteries to power rat distance so then you'll be more satisfied. Google translate actually makes more sense than some product sheets I've seen recently.
I find it amusing that google translates the hangul under the faq icon as "Iran says?"
Be grateful mehmbers... we don't demand blood from you for purchases... yet...
I want that shower head, though.
This is a riot.
They need to sell a shirt immediately.
They put a lot of thought into that logo.
@SSteve The logo is obviously Mark Farrow.
@SSteve They say they're 'Wallaby'. Doesn't anyone have a good gif for that?
So can I get one of those sweet lightboxes from the weekend there?
Wow, that is quite the clone site. The videos dont have quite the same charm as Meh, though.
@MrGlass Is there a Korean counterpart to Possum Head Chronicles?
@darksaber99999 Weasel head chronicles seems most appropriate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_of_Korea#Fauna
Wasn't Meh.com responsible for something like 25% of Mediocre revenues for the year? The majority is coming from other business, and we know that Mediocre Labs will pimp out @shawn & team's work to pay dem bills (see: checkout.org).
Looks to me like the business plan is working and @JonT's tweet was just a red herring.
@JerseyFrank It is 29.71%
@cengland0 I wonder what percentage of that 70% is mass selling speaker docks to other folks.
Speaker dock Tuesday over there!
I know they're site-stealing fartweasels, but the stats are actually pretty sad. 3 items sold for the equivalent in won of about $30. That's not gonna buy much kimchi.
@Starblind The site's only been up for two days. Without the kickstarter hype, Meh would have not done as well as they did early on because most of us wouldn't have found them as quickly.
@PurplePawprints True, that's a good point. Still, they should have done some advertising or forum hype or something. Oh, and not been design-stealing designstealers that stole a design, too.
@Starblind Fartweasels? Is there an illustration available?
@beachbum
If you really want that speaker dock, Amazon has it. Of course. http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00KJWZP54/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=all&qid=1438111556&sr=8-2
Too bad they left off the referral stats. It'd be interesting to see where Meh.com shows up on that list.
Thanks for not linking to my Twitter ensuring that I don't acquire any more followers, @gio…
Just kidding, I almost never tweet anything original and pretty much only retweet stuff I think is funny.
@JonT My apologies sir! I am not wise in the etiquette of social media, since I only use my twitter account as a news and entertainment feed. I never tweet, retweet, like, favorite or accept followers, so it doesn't occur to me that some people want to build their reputation. :-))
@JonT I'm sorry but I really have a bone to pick with you on this... I know that the site is a knockoff Meh and all but... looking at the item they have today... Why aren't you guys selling an awesome speaker dock like that!
They didn't completely make a crappier version of meh.
The comment editor seems to be a lot more powerful and even the wysiwyg editor has a lot more options.
Perhaps take a leaf out of wal's book and actually give us full html editing?
@eulestadt if I had to guess, I would assume there's a good reason we do things the way we do. I'd have to ask @shawn for a technical explanation.
@JonT With full HTML, oy such formatting I could do with the dick jokes. Dick jokes with formatting so good you could plotz.
It's mutual!
Found a Korean article about a copycat website just now. It mentions Woot and Meh at the beginning. Then it talks about how Limefactory is based off of Meh...!
@galmaegi If I'm deciphering the google translation correctly, Wal charges 2500 won shipping per item, but you can earn won by registering, playing games and clicking the button that is next to the buy button. After you've earned 2500 won, you can use it to get free shipping. Not a bad gimmick, and probably more enticing than humorous faces (no offense intended @Kylethephotoguy...I have your complete collection).
@galmaegi Thanks for digging that up!
@gio All correct except for playing games part. Google translation, you're almost there!
@galmaegi Thanks for clarifying! I know not to take Google translation literally, but it's fun to see how closely I can guess the intent of the original passage.
@galmaegi I'm curious about the part where Google Translate says they make the goat cry. What do they do to the goat? :O
@Starblind Funny! They say the word Meh means "just the sound of goat makes, nothing special". Not true but we do have strong relation to the goat, right?
@galmaegi @Starblind
@gio - That needs to go at the top with the meh themes!
@KDemo When I searched I found that plenty of people think goats say "meh." It's amusing that it took an article about the Korean imitators to point out the connection between our beloved scapegoat and this site's name. Guess we'll just have to blame @Starblind while we still can.
@gio - It seems exactly like all of us in the forum. One speaks up and everyone answers. That's me on the left with grey ears and a white nose.
@KDemo I love that analogy!
@KDemo You comment made me watch it, now I can't stop giggling.
@Thumperchick - meh.
(I just realized meh with an exclamation point is an oxymoron).
Poor WAL. Zero Dysons sold today.
I guess I shoudn't be surprised at $422 American (495,000원).
I think Wal has shut down
wal.co.kr
@connorbush What does the text say?!?!
@ELUNO I have no idea. Pinging @galmagei
@galmaegi too, just to be safe
@connorbush excellent - my strategy of doing nothing about them succeeded. It’s my favorite.
@brhfl I’m here! @connorbush tagged me wrong… Wal says they’re renewing their website. They say they will come back but no date or anything like that.
@connorbush
/giphy forgive me for I have sinned
@galmaegi
@galmaegi ok well I’ll take a temporary victory. with our site performance right now I’m happy we’re still up and running.
@snapster Your strategy paid dividends! Your effort to results ratio is off the charts.
/image impressive outcome