Memorial Fund for "Earl" Character Helps Make-a-Wish Foundation

Once upon a time, a television character posted on a real-life Internet forum. Then that fictional character died. Now there is a real-life memorial fund set up in his name. On the hit NBC television series My Name is Earl, a character named Josh appeared on the Television Without Pity show forums in 2005, posting somewhat infrequently under the handle "whojackie". On January 18, 2007, an episode of the TV program airs and the Josh character dies in a murhpy bed accident. (Whoops. Uh, spoiler!) The next day, a post from the character Joy, using the "whojackie" account, announces to the "Wide Wide World of Web" that Josh has passed away. That's when someone from Glarkware contacted the Earl series creator, where he pitched treating Whojackie as a 'real' person and creating a WhoJackie Memorial Charity Drive in his honor. The creator said yes, and he chose the charity (Make a Wish) that people could donate to.

So now, you can go and donate money to a fund created for a fictional character, who posted on a website, and whose website now host the fund drive, only the money isn't going to anybody related to the show, but to Make a Wish. It's complicated, contrived, but very clever and a great way to get people involved with a charity.

To read all about this saga, click here for a in-depth explanation from the man who runs Glark Industries.