Man Attempts to Top Million Dollar Publicity Stunt

VIENNA, Oct. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- A publicity stunt selling the smallest and most expensive link of Internet history could put both the buyer and the seller on the map, as well as Wikipedia and major news outlets. Thirty-two-year-old Austrian pilot Bernd Zikulnig has launched www.TheGuyWhoToppedTheMillionDollarHomepage.com in an attempt to sell a web link one pixel in size for one million U.S. dollars.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131015/CG98041)

Half homage and half one-upmanship to Alex Tew's 2005 project www.milliondollarhomepage.com whereby Tew sold one million pixels for one dollar each to pay for school tuition, Zikulnig's web site is taking a gamble that one advertiser will pay $1 million in exchange for one pixel—and all the free publicity that potentially comes along with it.

A combination of "pix" for "picture and "el" for "element," a pixel is the smallest controllable element of a picture represented on a screen. The absurdity of selling one pixel, which appears onscreen about the size of the period at the end of this sentence, is equaled only by the $1 million price tag. Zikulnig's rules define his property for sale as one non-refundable red pixel that will be accessible until at least September 8, 2016. The pixel must link to a web page that cannot contain racist or prohibited content, and full payment must be received before the link is activated.

Zikulnig calls Tew's million dollar homepage "genius," adding that although many people have attempted to copy his project, none of them have succeeded. Rather than copying Tew, Zikulnig is striving to make advertising and Internet history. So intent on shock value, Zikulnig ran into some trouble with the original domain name for his scheme, finding it too provocative to promote the page on Google AdWords, Facebook, and other media. He finally settled on the domain name www.TheGuyWhoToppedTheMillionDollarHomepage.com.

If the link sells, Zikulnig plans to use his rags-to-riches fortune to study aviation at the University in Florida and to invest in Austrian real estate by buying a nice house in his home town. "I think everything imaginable is possible," said Zikulnig.

"Maybe nothing will come of this," said Steve Hall, publisher of marketing and advertising news site www.adrants.com. "Maybe it will trump Alex Tew's Million Dollar Homepage." In light of Tew's million dollar homepage, Hall observes that advertising is unpredictable. "Things come out of left field, and this one is certainly a left fielder," said Hall.

About www.TheGuyWhoToppedTheMillionDollarHomepage.com:
Bernd Zikulnig is the 32-year-old mastermind behind www.TheGuyWhoToppedTheMillionDollarHomepage.com. A professional pilot working full time for a manufacturer of unmanned aerial systems, Zikulnig has also founded a sole proprietorship in advertising, giving him the legal ability to develop pages like his. For more information or to purchase his $1 million pixel, visit www.TheGuyWhoToppedTheMillionDollarHomepage.com.

CONTACT: ADMYMEDIA e.U., Bernd Zikulnig, Phone: +43664 1601433

SOURCE Bernd Zikulnig