California Satire Site Partners with Los Angeles Web Design Company
California news satire site, The LaLa Times (http://www. lalatimes. com), has teamed up with Jungle 8 / creative (a full-service, Los Angeles-based marketing and visual design firm) to re-launch the popular Left Coast humor site with a new look and feel, and improved features. Citing a "satirical void," the two companies share a common purpose in the joint publishing venture. They also share a similar mission in terms of speaking to the absurdity of life in California, and about issues of hypocrisy, injustice and vanity.
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) October 6, 2005
California news satire site, The LaLa Times (http://www. lalatimes. com (http://www. lalatimes. com)), has teamed up with Jungle 8 / creative (a full-service, Los Angeles-based marketing and visual design firm) to re-launch the popular Left Coast humor site with a new look and feel, and improved features.
Dubbed “The Onion for L. A.,” by The Los Angeles Times, the site's makeover is actually an attempt to distinguish itself from The Onion and other satire sites, says founder George Wolfe. “No one can knock The Onion. They're the classic, the bellwether -- who doesn't like them? But what sets us apart is that we specifically focus on a region: California. So with our new dynamic site, we're simply shaping our brand around a unique identity instead of trying to ape the most successful models out there. Nothing against apes.”
To that end, the new site contains quintessentially California-centric content (http://www. lalatimes. com/archives. php (http://www. lalatimes. com/archives. php)) in sections such as News Features (Californian's Urged to Evacuate in Advance of Cold Front; Disney, Muppet Characters Wed in Gay Marriage; Prenatal Cosmetic Surgery Common in California; Wall Street Crooks Bound for Posh Malibu Correctional Facility; Dog Meditation -- All the Rage), News Shorts (Bail Jumping Declared Official State Sport), California Studies (High Gas Prices Slow Number of Drive-by Shootings), Weird Real News (Sausalito Woman Pays $50,000 For Clone of Cat), Mock Ads (Spanish Fly Airlines announces new flights between L. A. and Madrid), Double Lives (Celebrities Who Look Like Works of Art), and a Dictionary of West Coast lingo (bikini waxing eloquent n: highly literate surfer girls). (http://www. lalatimes. com/dic. php (http://www. lalatimes. com/dic. php))
Additionally, Celebrity Slightings (http://www. lalatimes. com/celsli/index. php (http://www. lalatimes. com/celsli/index. php)) is a virtual museum with odd celebrity junk and dubious personal items on display (Celebrity Baby Placentas Exhibit Opens). There is also a budding online store (http://www. cafepress. com/lalatimes/ (http://www. cafepress. com/lalatimes/)), with products and apparel such as Buddha's Gym T-shirts (“Become One With Any Body”) — that are themselves spin-offs of LaLa Times articles. The publication also says it will roll out various interactive features in November and December, 2005 (Horrorscopes promises to predict alarming futures daily for all zodiac signs).
Jungle 8 founder and CEO Lainie Siegel says her interest in the partnership stems from “a satirical void in California — L. A. and Hollywood especially take themselves way too seriously. We simply believed in this project and wanted to get on board with it. Besides, twisting imagery and spoofing the status quo is a major pastime at our firm.”
The new site launched in September 2005, though the classic site's first full year of operation was 2003. Since inception, the site has gathered a steady stream of loyal readers, and in the past six months the site has seen an exponential traffic increase of roughly 150%.
George Wolfe is the founder of, and editor and main writer for The LaLa Times [http://www. lalatimes. com (http://www. lalatimes. com)]. Over the years, he worked in NYC as the editor of ArtSearch, in Seattle as associate editor of Metropolitan Living magazine, and has been a freelance reporter for National Public Radio (KPLU) and a freelance writer for numerous publications, including scr(i)pt (screenwriting), Alaska Airlines (travel), and Vim & Vigor (healthcare). He has received several writing awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, has published a first novel (Blake's Bible), and has been a finalist in several comedy screenplay competitions. More recently, he was an invited speaker at the UCal (Irvine) Humanities conference ("In the Shadow of Big Media").
Lainie Siegel is the founder and creative director of Jungle8 (http://www. jungle8.com (http://www. jungle8.com); formerly Interactive Jungle). Her expertise includes creative strategy, design and web production, brand and identity development, and marketing. For the past 14 years, she has worked with a top-tier client list, including Carsey Warner, Korbel Champagne, Fox Home Entertainment, Triage Entertainment, Mandalay Entertainment, Big Idea, Doritos, Interscope Records and Sam Goodie.
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