In February of 2003, audiences were given for the first time a chance to view a cactus live via the internet at 24 frames per second. Lucy the Cactus remains today one of my most popular features, and its growing popularity on the web draws a lot of traffic my way, which is great.

The idea behind it is simple enough, and the people who visit get pretty much what they expect: A scene of Lucy sitting motionless in a simulated “desert” environment complete with ticking clock and heat lamps. While it might sound boring, the humor comes in what’s expected but never occurs. The caption warns viewers to keep a close eye out, because Lucy might do something “at any minute”, and I’ve heard of people watching for long periods of time, waiting for Lucy to do something, or something to happen that they can see and tell their friends – but nothing ever does. The trick is that the video isn’t actually even live - the whole thing is fake, even the clock! This kind of setup draws two groups of people. One group is those that watch thinking it’s an actual live feed. I get emails asking me how it’s done, and if I would walk in front of the camera so they could see me. The other group is those that are wise to the trick, and enjoy trying to figure out how the clock keeps accurate time. Either way, it’s a great feature that typically keeps people watching for awhile, while the doubleparker.com logo sits visibly at the bottom right-hand of the screen.

For those that are forwarded the link by friends and coworkers, the Lucy the Cactus show is the first glimpse they get of the Doubleparker.com website, and if they like what they see, they’re invited to explore other areas of the website, beyond the Lucy the Cactus section. Statistics show that this happens often, as more than half of those that find Lucy through an outside link end up visiting other parts of the site. The feature sparks their interests or appeals to their sense of humor, and they willingly seek out more.