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Place your bets - on celebrity deaths
Ineteresting site & article
A FORMER paint sprayer from Bolton has launched a website - allowing gamblers to place bets on when famous people will die.
A bad-taste sweepstake, once popular among office staff, has been modified into an online celebrity death sweepstake.
www.coffindodgers.co.uk set up as a spoof website four weeks ago by Peter Mundy, aged 39, of Kearsley, and it attracted a surprising reception.
"Before we committed ourselves, we did a test with family and friends," he said.
"But since we put it live on the internet, it's gone down an absolute storm. The amount of hits per day - around 1,000 - is unreal."
Mr Mundy, who drives around in a yellow hearse, insisted that he ethically designed the website to bypass controversy.
"We wanted it to be fun. We've just gone with nature. Dying is just a part of life, its' the most natural thing in the world - you come, you go," he said.
Top of the list, because of his old age, is 101-year-old scientist Albert Hofmann.
Former snooker player Alex Higgins is in second place while actor Andy Griffith, aged 80, is third.
The site invites people to pay £12.75 to take part in their "online death sweepstake". The site then randomly selects a "coffindodger" from the list and emails the name to the customer. If that person dies, the gambler collects £400.
The website is updated every day to confirm who, if any, people have passed away.
"If someone was to die, it would be updated immediately," said Peter.
Mr Mundy said he was yet to receive a complaint. He believes that the humour, originality and his banana yellow hearse keep the website alive.
10:43am Saturday 12th May 2007
A FORMER paint sprayer from Bolton has launched a website - allowing gamblers to place bets on when famous people will die.
A bad-taste sweepstake, once popular among office staff, has been modified into an online celebrity death sweepstake.
www.coffindodgers.co.uk set up as a spoof website four weeks ago by Peter Mundy, aged 39, of Kearsley, and it attracted a surprising reception.
"Before we committed ourselves, we did a test with family and friends," he said.
"But since we put it live on the internet, it's gone down an absolute storm. The amount of hits per day - around 1,000 - is unreal."
Mr Mundy, who drives around in a yellow hearse, insisted that he ethically designed the website to bypass controversy.
"We wanted it to be fun. We've just gone with nature. Dying is just a part of life, its' the most natural thing in the world - you come, you go," he said.
Top of the list, because of his old age, is 101-year-old scientist Albert Hofmann.
Former snooker player Alex Higgins is in second place while actor Andy Griffith, aged 80, is third.
The site invites people to pay £12.75 to take part in their "online death sweepstake". The site then randomly selects a "coffindodger" from the list and emails the name to the customer. If that person dies, the gambler collects £400.
The website is updated every day to confirm who, if any, people have passed away.
"If someone was to die, it would be updated immediately," said Peter.
Mr Mundy said he was yet to receive a complaint. He believes that the humour, originality and his banana yellow hearse keep the website alive.
10:43am Saturday 12th May 2007