April 27, 2005 - (HOSTSEARCH.COM) - News update- Opera's CEO, Jon von Tetzchner has been stopped in his quest to swim from Norway to the USA after promising to do so if more than a million internet surfers downloaded the Opera 8 browser in 4 days. The attempt was ended when von Tetzchner’s assistant’s raft was punctured and he was forced to rescue him.
"It was cold and wet and horrible and I was really, really scared," says Eskil Sivertsen, Opera's PR Manager who operated the raft. "The night had been crisp and starlit, and we had fallen asleep in the raft to the gentle movement of the waves. In the morning, I gave Jon two chocolate bars and some of those mini carrots he likes so much before he jumped back into the water. He had only been swimming for an hour or so when the raft suddenly punctured in open sea. I owe my life to Jon, and I can only hope that he doesn't fire me for ruining his dream of swimming to America."
"As much as I don't want to talk behind a colleague's back, there is no doubt that we would never have let Eskil assist Jon in the raft had we known he can neither swim nor read maps," says an embarrassed Tor Odland, Opera's Communications Director. "I feel partly responsible for letting Jon down, as he cannot possibly continue without the raft."
A
full account of the amusing PR stunt can be found on the Opera web site.
