PROVIDENCE -- A Providence woman has taken some criticism for offering up her two children as living billboards. Last week, Christine Wilford auctioned off advertising rights to her two sons on online auction house eBay.
The bidding is now over and News Channel 10's Cherie Curry reported that the final deal is not exactly what the mother had proposed.
Wilford reads the flood of e-mails sent to her from all over the country. The e-mails are responses to her decision to auction her 3-year-old son Emanuel and her 3-month old son Richie on eBay. But Wilford insists she never meant to cash in on her kids.
"It was more of a social statement but that whole piece got lost. "A lot of time people pay advertising -- we put our kids in clothes and pay for advertising and I just didn't think that was OK," she says.
Her actions didn't go unnoticed. It caught the eye of Burrillville cartoonist Jim Weicherding. Weicherding won the bid and offered $1,000 to buy advertising on the kids.
|
"It's all in how you look at it and what you make happen from that," said Weicherding.
But in the end no money was exchanged. Instead, the two have decided to team up and do something different.
Wilford has agreed to allow her kids to wear colorful cartoon images to promote Weicherding's production company and the Kid Safety Zone Web site. Kidsafetyzone teaches kids about child safety and buckling up in the car.
In return Weicherding said he has agreed to pay for the gas and expenses incurred when the family takes a road trip to Disneyland this summer.
Wilford plans on promoting Weicherding's cartoon figures when she makes stops across the country on her trip to Disneyland.
The cartoon images will also be used as part of the "Buckle Up America" campaign that begins this week.
Previous Stories:
- May 19, 2005: Providence Mother Wants Toddler, Infant To Make Money
