A few years ago, royalty-free photos of this impish young man with nerdy glasses and spiky hair seemed to be everywhere that advertisers like Domino's Pizza and Nokia needed an engaging image of a dotcommer.
In 1999, TheStreet.com, an online business publication, called him "the Internet Guy" in an article that concluded, "The rise of George Chen, just like the Internet he represents, is just beginning."
As it turns out, both predictions were inflated. Now 29, Chen said he had approached a modeling agency in San Francisco during his high-profile days, partly "as a joke," but also to see whether he could earn more than the US$500 his other modeling work had brought him.
"Their reaction was, `George, you're way too popular,'" he said.
In 2000, the Banner Lady reigned. Clenching her teeth or screaming, this young woman was all over the Web in the advertising strips known as banners. She promised a fix for every problem, from a bad cough to bad credit.
Marc Ryan, an analyst who follows Internet advertising, said that certain stock photo images become ubiquitous because advertisers use the same search terms to find them in Getty Images' PhotoDisc collection. Indeed, searching for "stress" and "woman" will still turn up an image of the Banner Lady.
Another term that works: PMS.
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