Ellen Feiss

Ellen Feiss (born circa 1987 ) became an Internet phenomenon after her 2002 Errol Morris-directed television commercial for Apple Computer's Switch campaign grew into a cult hit.cite news | first = John | last = Schwartz | title = Out-of-It Eyebrow Lift Gives Apple a Superstar | date = 2002-08-19 | work = The New York Times | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/19/technology/19ELLE.html] In the commercial, the then-14-year-old [http://www.theflux.tv/files/podcasts/fluxradio27.mp3 Interview with Ellen Feiss on The Flux] (mp3)] American high school student complained that her father's Windows PC had broken.

Fueling the popularity of the advertisement was the speculation that Feiss was under the influence of illicit drugs during the filming of the commercial, due to her slurred speech and disoriented eyes.cite web| url = http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,54333,00.html | title = Apple 'Switch' Star Flies High | last = Kahney | first = Leander | work = Wired News] Feiss denied these claims in an interview with the "Brown Daily Herald" and noted that she was only taking Benadryl, an allergy medication with sedative properties. She ascribed the "drugged" behavior to a combination of the effect of the Benadryl, together with exhaustion (she said that her ad was filmed at ten o'clock in the evening). [http://www.cootey.com/ellen/ellen.feiss.interview.pdf Copy of "Brown Daily Herald" interview] from [http://www.cootey.com/ellen.feiss.soundbytes.html Ellen Feiss Soundbytes] (original is no longer available) (PDF)] She also explained how she had come to appear in the commercial:

A second ad, in which Feiss talks about the virtues of her PowerBook G4, was circulated extensively on the Internet. [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-947346157433324114 Unreleased Powerbook commercial] on Google Video]

Feiss's popularity grew to the point where she was offered appearances on both David Letterman's and Jay Leno's late night shows, both of which she turned down.

In September 2005, Feiss made her movie acting debut in the French short film "Bed and Breakfast". She plays the role of an American visiting France with her boyfriend who is drawn into a dangerous fantasy world when they visit an old friend at his castle. The directors, Martin Beilby and Loïc Moreau, had seen Feiss's Apple commercial and wanted someone with her special qualities for the part, so they decided to approach Feiss herself. She accepted the offer, despite having no formal acting experience.cite web | url = http://web.archive.org/web/20070329065812/www.bnb-movie.com/news/index.php | title = "Bed and Breakfast" website (archived) | language = French and English] Feiss graduated from The Cambridge School of Weston in 2005. She is currently in college, and plans to major in either photography and video or women's studies. [http://macenstein.com/default/archives/509 Where are they now? Interview with "Switcher Girl" Ellen Feiss] ]

See also

* List of Internet phenomena

References

External links

*
* [http://macenstein.com/default/archives/509 Interview with Feiss] on [http://www.macenstein.com/default/ Macenstein] from January 2007