One Million Giraffes: a Norwegian man wins a bet by receiving a million drawings of giraffes
1.jpgA Norwegian man who made a bet with his friend that he could get a million giraffe pictures before the end of this year has already passed his target with months to go
It was an offhand comment over a beer that launched the quirky challenge. Ola Helland, a 25-year-old web designer, explains: "When I was out drinking with my good friend Jørgen on the 6th of June 2009 I said a sentence that changed my life. We were discussing the internet and how amazing it is, when I said: 'There really are no limits anymore. Anything is possible! I could easily collect one million giraffes if I wanted to.' I wasn't really thinking about what I was saying, but Jørgen wouldn't let that sentence go. He refused to believe it was possible to collect that many giraffes, so we made a bet. The wager was, as it always is with our silly bets, a case of beer"
Ola set-up a website onemilliongiraffes.com and posted the link on Facebook and Twitter. It stated very clear rules on submission that all giraffes must be created by hand and not made with a computer or bought from a shop. People could also include more than one giraffe in their picture to help make up the numbers
The response was immediate with the quirky idea inspiring web users to put aside their keyboards and pick up pens, brushes and crayons. He says: "I went out for lunch and when I came back I had 60 giraffes. By the end of the day I had 134. I started to realise that I had started something I immediately lost control over"
Imaginative submissions from 102 countries included giraffes drawn on body parts, made into cakes, and even sculpted from a banana
Ola from Stavanger, Norway, says: "People from literally all over the world participated in this project and I got 9,500 emails about giraffes. And since people are so kind to help me out winning this case of beer, the least I could do is answer all their questions. So I've personally answered 9,500 emails in 440 days. Which is a lot of work. Answering emails, tweets and Facebook messages definitely took the most time. And scanning all the giraffes that were mailed to my house. I have about 50 000 drawings in my house now"
Ola says: "I got the millionth giraffe on the 24th of August, 440 days after I launched the website and I had to the end of the year to win the bet. So I made it with four months to spare!" The magic millionth submission arrived in the form of a charming crayon-drawn picture of a giraffe with fairy wings Ola has now released a book showcasing pictures from the project, but will not be sad to leave behind his long-necked friends. "I want to thank everyone who sent in a giraffe or two. You made this happen. Not me. I am forever grateful for making this an adventure I will tell my grandchildren about untill they hate hearing about it. I've had a lot of fun doing this, but I'm definitely over giraffes. A man can only see a certain number of giraffes before he's sick of them. One million is too many!" Other giraffes received by Ola Hellend:  | ||
