OchocincOs is a cereal named after the popular wide receiver on the Cincinnati Bengals, Chad Ochocinco. He legally changed his surname from Johnson prior to the 2008 football season so that it would reflect the two numbers on his Bengal’s uniform (8 and 5). In addition to changing his name, Chad may want to wear a mask for a while to cover the embarrassment arising from a wrong number posted on the cereal box, which mistakenly led dialers to a sex hot line instead of the intended charity.
The wrong number was given by the Feed The Children charity and an 800 area code was substituted for 888. The toll-free prefix leads callers to a sultry woman who makes risqué suggestions and then asks for a credit-card number. It was an honest mistake, a typo, but needless to say a most embarrassing one. According to PBL Sports, which is the company marketing the cereal, a portion of the $5 price of each box goes to the Feed The Children organization.
Ochocinco told a Cincinnati TV station that he had nothing to do with the mistake and that he was confident it would be fixed. His agent, Robert Bailey supported him and told the press that:
“It was a shame because the proceeds were meant to go to a good cause. We greatly regret the mistake and the trouble it has caused, but Chad himself was in no way involved in this error.”
The charity mistakenly gave the supplier the wrong phone number. The boxes will soon be re-issued with the correct toll-free number.
Kroger Company, a Cincinnati-based grocery store, told the press that it would be pulling all of the low fat, honey nut, toasted oat cereal boxes from its shelves because of the error.
Chad Ochocinco has been selected to the Pro Bowl six times and named an All-Pro three times, and it is highly unlikely that this faux pas which was certainly not his fault, will have even the slightest dent in his colorful career.
Sorry, guys. This really is just a wrong number after all and this too shall pass!
marjorie
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