Air New Zealand's new viral media campaign asks fans and followers to solve the murder of Rico, their obnoxious creepster of a puppet, by playing an online game.

The rat-like character, you'll remember, had been slowly making the transition merely sleazy to borderline rapey over a series of videos. Apparently the airline's creatives ran out of ideas, so they killed him.

The game is a Clue knockoff in which players are asked to determine which celebrity killed Rico where with what etc etc. The story is that Rico was killed at a Hollywood house-warming party, and so many of his former interviewees apparently make appearances. There's also some kind of prize which includes economy airfare to LA, a hotel stay, Universal Studios and Disney vouchers, and some other stuff. We're unsure whether "not playing the game at all" because "you really don't care" makes you eligible, but the rules and conditions spell everything out.]]> Omri 2011-12-05T14:04:16-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/8/2/105346/9902

By our count this is the third or fourth round of viral Air New Zealand ads with their overtly sexual spokespuppet Rico, and the second time we're posting about him. The first time around we dubbed him a creepster, awarded him no points, and asked God to have mercy not only on his soul, but also on the souls of the creatives who did the ads and the focus group participants who found the videos funny.

The overarching concept is that Rico keeps talking about how awesome New Zealand is, except he explains himself by saying dirty things like "I love her bush—it's amazing," "I can feel her wind—she's blowing you," and "you can lick the crack." Get it? Because he's a felt hand puppet with fangs, but he says things that are sexual. How could this idea get any better, you might wonder. By having Lindsay Lohan guest star opposite Rico. Obviously.]]> Omri 2011-08-02T11:30:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/8/3/11948/66107

Lindsay Lohan may have been released from jail yesterday after serving only 2 weeks of her sentence, but it hasn't been smooth sailing for the actress since. Yesterday, she was ordered to go straight to rehab from jail (no stops at home) and instead of staying at the posh Morningside Recovery Center, she was sent to the UCLA Medical Center Rehab.

Apparently, Lindsay's drug of choice is methamphetamine, which she has been getting in the prescription form Desoxyn from various doctors around the country. The judge ordered LiLo to 90 days in rehab and claims to have made the last-minute switch to UCLA for "security reasons". ]]> cmb 2010-08-03T13:31:17-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/5/28/105216/037

After dodging jail time last week, Lindsay Lohan is back in Los Angeles with a new accessory. On Monday, LiLo spent the day in court where she was ordered to wear an alcohol-monitoring SCRAM ankle bracelet which will restrict her from leaving LA.

In Lohan's defense, her attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, told the judge that the travel restriction would negatively effect her career as she was suppose to travel to Texas to film a movie titled Machete. The judge had little sympathy for Lohan and, little did she know, Machete wrapped weeks ago. But, that doesn't mean the Texas story was a total lie. Lindsay was reportedly offered the role of "Lieutenant Peterson" in a project produced by the recently coiffed Willie Nelson called, The Dry Gulch Kid, which would shoot in Texas. ]]> cmb 2010-05-28T14:00:45-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/5/21/23915/3550

There are some things you can always count on, the sun will rise, the tides will change, and Lindsay Lohan will be surrounded by some kind of drama. In this week's incident, Lindsay, who is in France promoting her latest role as porn star Linda Loveless at the Cannes Film Festival, reported her passport stolen. But, she never bothered to request a new one which meant she was turned away from her flight back to the U.S. on Tuesday.

According to the U.S. Embassy, Lindsay faxed a copy of her passport to their Paris embassy but had not officially requested a new one which involves all sorts of paperwork and red tape.

It’s the timing of the incident that has some people raising an eyebrow over Lindsay's story. The actress was scheduled to be in a Los Angles court on Thursday morning but couldn’t get out of France to make the mandatory hearing. She was suppose to give a "progress report" on her probation from her prior arrests on drug and alcohol charges. ]]> cmb 2010-05-21T08:30:41-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/12/10/9547/7075

Lindsay Lohan's apparently busy saving lives this week, taking a break from ruining her own. The Mean Girls star/trainwreck is currently in India making a documentary about the trafficking of women and children for the BBC and, according to a recent tweet, she has already saved 40 children! Yesterday, she exclaimed, "Over 40 children saved so far… Within one day’s work. This is what life is about… Doing THIS is a life worth living!!!"

A Hindu stateman, Rajan Zed, advised Lindsay to take a dip in the holy Ganges if she really wants to change her ways. Zed said, "Lindsay Lohan should rediscover herself by taking a dip in the holy Ganges. It is believed that bathing in the sacred Ganges purifies one of all sin and its waters confer immortality." But, Lindsay hasn't taken him up on the offer yet. She's been way too busy saving lives and debating political issues. She just tweeted, "Having a heated debate w/ my security guard about politics & I'm seconds from leaving my table! Never debate over dinner!! You'll leave hungry." ]]> cmb 2009-12-10T10:34:41-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/5/7/161111/2643

Lindsay Lohan may have taken one of Jaunted's ideas for a vacation to heal her soul but she's obviously not dedicated to making it work.

Just last week, she headed up to Montreal to host a gig at a nightclub. Remember Lilo, it works if you work it.

However, her trip through customs in Canada didn't go quite as planned. While we usually get admonished for having our cell phones out or for not having our passports ready quick enough, Lindsay Lohan was actually "hauled into a backroom by border staff" at the Montreal Airport. ]]> juliana 2009-05-08T08:46:51-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/