WUPHF.com might have proven to be a bust in the universe of “The Office,” but the website referenced in Thursday’s episode is generating significant search interest.
WUPHF, a spelling designed to represent the “woof” sound made by a dog, was introduced as a fictitious social networking utility that links virtually every communication device–Facebook, email, fax, home phone, home computer screen, etc–to a single account. Conceived by Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling) and made into a reality by Ryan Howard (BJ Novak), WUPHF was designed to assure that messages sent would instantly reach the desired recipient (preventing them from using the excuse that their “phone was off” or that they “haven’t checked Facebook today”).
Portrayed as a brilliant idea, WUPHF was nonetheless a failure due to Ryan’s total lack of a strategic game plan for monetizing the service. Meant as an allusion to “The Social Network,” Novak’s character tried to mirror Sean Parker (portrayed by Justin Timberlake) and Mark Zuckerberg (portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg) by spouting off catchphrases about the value of a cool social networking brand rather than immediately looking for opportunities to create revenue (unlike them, he had no plan whatosever for even putting the project into motion). Worth noting is the fact that Novak graduated from Harvard University in 2001.
Amid pressure from several of the Dunder Mifflin Sabre employees who had invested in the brand, Ryan eventually accepted his limitations as a business leader and accepted an offer to sell the domain name to the Washington University Public Health Fund (WUPHF).
NBC, however, has maintained synergy between its web operation and the television show by maintaining Ryan Howard’s version of WUPHF at wuphf.com.
The website features voiceovers from BJ Novak and some of the charts and memorabilia from Thursday’s episode. There is also a sign-up form; a ‘message’ from Ryan Howard is sent to those who register.
— On the subject of “The Office,” as NBC continues to celebrate its latest webisode series “The 3rd Floor”, it has partnered with Headline Planet for a new contest. You can enter by emailing contests[at]headlineplanet.com; three lucky winners will receive a poster for the series, one of which will be autographed by the cast.
To enter, simply email contests[at]headlineplanet.com with the subject line “THE OFFICE CONTEST” and your name, or post a comment below. The winners will be drawn at random. (We will only require a name and mailing address from the winners).
In the meantime, check out the webisode series here!