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Parents Sell Online Casino Right To Name Baby
POSTED: 11:25 am EDT April 29, 2005
UPDATED: 11:53 am EDT April 29, 2005
TORRINGTON, Conn. -- When Melissa Heuschkel couldn't decide what to name her fourth child, she turned to the auction site eBay.
Earlier this year, the Torrington woman sold the right to name her unborn baby to online casino GoldenPalace.com for $15,500.
Golden Palace Benedetto was born at 3:34 a.m. Wednesday at Charlotte Hungerford Hospital.
Heuschkel told the Republican-American of Waterbury that she'll call the baby Goldie.
"It's different," Heuschkel said. "It's definitely unique, but I wouldn't say it's totally off the wall."
Bidding started in February at $1. A week and 38 bids later, the naming rights were sold to GoldenPalace.com, which last year paid $28,000 for a grilled cheese sandwich supposedly imprinted with an image of the Virgin Mary.
The site has paid a 400-pound South Carolina man $4,550 to put a GoldenPalace.com tattoo on his stomach for a month. Two pregnant women received about $5,000 each to put the same tattoo on their stomachs for the duration of their pregnancies.
The company also has forked over $156 for a giant Frosted Flake and $650,000 to name a new species of monkey discovered in Bolivia.
"This has truly become a phenomenon and has changed the way people think about marketing," GoldenPalace.com Chief Executive Officer Richard Rowe said in a news release about Goldie's birth. "It seems like there are no limits to what can be advertised."
A 33-year-old Tennessee woman legally changed her name to GoldenPalace.com in March, and another baby due later this year will be named GoldenPalace.com.
Heuschkel says she'll use some of the money from the auction to buy furniture for the baby. The rest will be put into a trust fund.
She also says she has no plans to call Goldie anything else.
"I can change it any time I want, but I'm not going to," she said. "That's what makes this crazy. The whole thing was about looking for a name. I got one. And if I was to sit here and try to come up with another name, I still couldn't."
For the latest news, stay tuned to NBC 30 Connecticut News and NBC30.com
POSTED: 11:25 am EDT April 29, 2005
UPDATED: 11:53 am EDT April 29, 2005
TORRINGTON, Conn. -- When Melissa Heuschkel couldn't decide what to name her fourth child, she turned to the auction site eBay.
Earlier this year, the Torrington woman sold the right to name her unborn baby to online casino GoldenPalace.com for $15,500.
Golden Palace Benedetto was born at 3:34 a.m. Wednesday at Charlotte Hungerford Hospital.
Heuschkel told the Republican-American of Waterbury that she'll call the baby Goldie.
"It's different," Heuschkel said. "It's definitely unique, but I wouldn't say it's totally off the wall."
Bidding started in February at $1. A week and 38 bids later, the naming rights were sold to GoldenPalace.com, which last year paid $28,000 for a grilled cheese sandwich supposedly imprinted with an image of the Virgin Mary.
The site has paid a 400-pound South Carolina man $4,550 to put a GoldenPalace.com tattoo on his stomach for a month. Two pregnant women received about $5,000 each to put the same tattoo on their stomachs for the duration of their pregnancies.
The company also has forked over $156 for a giant Frosted Flake and $650,000 to name a new species of monkey discovered in Bolivia.
"This has truly become a phenomenon and has changed the way people think about marketing," GoldenPalace.com Chief Executive Officer Richard Rowe said in a news release about Goldie's birth. "It seems like there are no limits to what can be advertised."
A 33-year-old Tennessee woman legally changed her name to GoldenPalace.com in March, and another baby due later this year will be named GoldenPalace.com.
Heuschkel says she'll use some of the money from the auction to buy furniture for the baby. The rest will be put into a trust fund.
She also says she has no plans to call Goldie anything else.
"I can change it any time I want, but I'm not going to," she said. "That's what makes this crazy. The whole thing was about looking for a name. I got one. And if I was to sit here and try to come up with another name, I still couldn't."
For the latest news, stay tuned to NBC 30 Connecticut News and NBC30.com
