February 20, 2006 | Monday

Bye-bye, Jeeves

By Jackie Danicki - Blogger in News |Search Engines |Ask

We hardly knew the cartoon butler, but after almost ten years of faithful service, Jeeves has been dropped to make way for the simply titled search engine Ask. Chris Sherman has some fun Jeeves history:

Gruener and Warthen thought P.G. Wodehouse’s butler character “Jeeves” embodied the idea of service they envisioned. Several artists submitted sketches, and the illustration created by Marcos Sorenson became the public face of Jeeves.

Ask Jeeves officially launched on April 7, and the company aggressively promoted the butler character, including floating the first Internet “character” as a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade balloon…

In a miss-step, the company neglected to ask Jeeves’ creator for permission to use the likeness of the character. A.P. Watt, the literary agent responsible for Wodehouse’s estate, had threatened legal action against Ask Jeeves. A settlement was reached in early 2000, though neither side disclosed details.

In 2004, Jeeves “went missing,” and later it was revealed that he was on a “world tour.” Upon return, the butler had transformed into a trimmer, slimmer character.

After all that, it’s almost a shame to see him go.