Since I enjoy making websites, getting attention and making things that are funny, I made a little joke site. The joke was inspired by this thread on a KC message board. It's 34 pages long, so I won't blame you at all if you don't read it. Long story short, people from Kansas City proper can get irritated when they encounter people who assume they live in Kansas. Herein lies the comedy gold.
For those of you who don't hold an advanced degree in geography, here's the deal. There is a Kansas City, Kansas and there is a Kansas City, Missouri. Why 19th century town-namers thought this was a good idea, I will never know. For all intents and purposes, when someone says "Kansas City," they're more than likely referring to the entire Kansas City metro, of which Kansas City, Missouri is the largest part. Clear? No? Well, don't sweat it. I'm from Nebraska where things are less ambiguous. Nebraska City, although dangerously close to Iowa, is still solidly inside the state of Nebraska.
I've always thought that this issue was funny, but I had no idea that people had such strong feelings about it. I've been to at least one concert where the band announced, "It's great to be here in Kansas!" and the crowd angrily shouted back, "Missouri!" And the forum thread I linked above shows how amazingly serious some people take this issue.
My response to all this hullabaloo was www.kansascityisinmissouri.com. A fake online educational resources supposedly paid for by a non-profit organization called "Concerned Missourians for Truth." The site's position is that Kansas City, Missouri is the ONLY Kansas City and that the American public needs to be educated about this important issue. I designed it to look a little plain and business-y to help pull off the joke.
Evidently, people thought it was clever enough to link to and I got some really great traffic. Most of the traffic came from StumbleUpon.com. The comments there are almost as hilarious as the 'testimonials' that people posted to the site.
The comments I got via email ranged from, "Hey, funny site!" to "You're doing a grave disservice to people by propagating false information." It's amazing how seriously people can take a joke website based on a ridiculous geography debate. I took a few digs at the suburbs (see the FAQs section) which riled some people up. But for the most part, I think people just found it amusing, which is good. That's what I was going for.
But now, ten days after launch, the hits are starting to dry up. *sigh* Maybe if I add a hilarious "There Will Be Milkshakes" parody… Yes… Awesome. No one's done that yet!