Conde Nast's troubled social networking site, Flip.com (oh and fuck off, Gawker ombudsman), came in with a marketing strategy. They identified 5,000 trendsetting teenage girls around the country, and they sent them a very special present: exclusive Flip.com Mimobot flash drive of their very own. One problem, for starters: these tweens may not have known what the flash drives were promoting. Flip? Is that a cute new Mr. Friendly character?

Also, reports a tipster, "They're wrapping ice cream trucks and rolling those out all over the country complete with current Conde advertisers so it will look like a gaudy teen NASCAR meets Mr. Softy, and they're running ads in Teen Vogue and like 1 other book." Wha? Now it's just getting confusing! But there may be a misguided method to the madness.

Apparently, all along, Conde has been advised by the cultish advertising and marketing firm Mother NY, a satellite office of mothership Mother London, which is known for being an all-creatives shop (no stuffy suits!). Mother NY has reportedly been paid a tidy sum to advise Conde Nast on Flip, and were also the brains behind the marketing effort. Which makes one think that someone at Conde is a Motherfucker to have thought this was a good idea.

Flipping Out Over Mimobots [Complex]