CUEJACK (2001)
(Under pseudonym “Cue P. Doll.”)
http://cuejack.com/
The :CueCat scanner was created and distributed for free at stores like Radio Shack and to subscribers of magazines like Wired. The premise was that it would simplify the process of looking up information about products on the web: you scanned your product’s UPC code in the comfort of your home, and you’d be taken to advertisements at the company’s website. It didn’t ultimately catch on, but it gave Amy an idea…
Although ads for products were very easy to find on the web in 2001, the “dirt” on products tended to be buried much farther down in the search results. So CueJack was born as a humorously expeditious way to dig up some of this info. Using CueJack as an alternative software for the :CueCat scanner, users could scan a product with a :CueCat, and it would display a web page with “alternative information” about the product’s company: boycotts, company misbehavior, product flaws, etc. CueJack was available for Windows and Linux.
More info. and online press clippings at:
http://rtmark.com/cue.html