By DORIS HAJEWSKI
dhajewski@journalsentinel.com

A New Berlin costume retailer is aiming to unmask the identity of the next president ahead of the election, based on its sales of likenesses of the candidates’ faces. Buycostumes.com, the largest online costume retailer in the U.S., has predicted accurately the outcomes of the 2000 and 2004 elections by tracking sales of masks of the candidates, founder Jalem Getz said.

This year, Getz saw an opportunity to generate publicity and sales early by selling 99-cent likenesses of eight primary candidates and reporting on the sales volume every week, from now until the general election in November.

“The more popular the mask, the more likely the candidate would win,” Getz said.

Read all about it on Milwaukee Journal Sential Online

Check out our employees taking part in the launch of the Official 2008 Presidential Mask Poll!
Get in on the action too : 2008 Presidential Mask Poll

John McCain boxes up products to be shipped

Hillary Clinton picks costumes in the BuyCostumes.com warehouse

Barack Obama highlights spreadsheets

Mike Huckabee answers calls in customer service

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, please contact:
Rachel Kuebbing, (262) 901-2000, ext. 156
Rachelk@buycostumes.com

BUYCOSTUMES.COM UP TO ITS OLD TRICKS WITH A FEW NEW TREATS.
Outcome of 2008 Presidential Race to Be Foretold by Candidate Mask Sales

–After successfully predicting election results in 2000 and 2004, BuyCostumes.com launches The Official 2008 Presidential Mask PollSM to unmask our next president.—

MILWAUKEE, WIS. — January 30, 2008 — This week, BuyCostumes.com, the world’s largest e-tailer of costumes and accessories, unveils The Official 2008 Presidential Mask PollSM, an online straw poll that tallies votes for each presidential candidate based on sales of the candidates’ masks.

In 2000, BuyCostumes.com uncovered a very unusual trend: their sales of presidential candidates’ masks foretold the outcome of the election. Monitoring and tracking each sale of a candidate’s mask in the 2000 and 2004 elections, BuyCostumes.com 100% accurately predicted the outcome of both elections. In 2004, George Bush masks took 53% of the “votes” to John Kerry’s 47%, and in 2000, George Bush led by 57% compared with Al Gore’s 43%.

This year, the more official polls have had trouble tracking candidates’ progress in the race for the White House so BuyCostumes.com has jumped to the sidelines six months earlier than usual to help predict the outcome.

Eight custom paper masks have been created by the company to track the following candidates: Republicans Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Ron Paul and Mitt Romney; Democrats Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama. These masks will be available exclusively at www.BuyCostumes.com/PresidentialMaskPoll for $0.99. As we near the conventions and campaign frontrunners emerge, BuyCostumes.com will also offer the very popular custom latex masks of those candidates. One mask purchase equals one vote.

“These masks are a lot of fun and an inexpensive way for people to show their support. I feel strongly that once again our poll will ultimately be the most reliable. After all, we’re the only poll that has so far been 100% accurate,” commented Jalem Getz, CEO of BuyCostumes.com. He adds, with a smile, “We’ve joked that this be the only way an election can be bought! The more masks you buy the more votes your candidate gets.”

Starting today, paper masks of eight presidential candidates will be available for purchase at www.BuyCostumes.com/PresidentialMaskPoll. Once again we will also provide sales data and statistics that show votes (mask sales) on a daily basis. Results can be viewed collectively for all candidates and also by an individual state.

New this year: BuyCostumes.com has created a custom website “widget” that will tally “voting” totals daily. The general public (or media outlets) can upload this widget to their websites, blogs or social networking sites in order to track the results of the Mask Poll in real-time. The widget along with other data will be available approximately 10 days after the masks go on sale and will be updated daily thereafter.

About BuyCostumes.com

Founded in 1999 BuyCostumes.com is the leading online‐only retailer of costumes, and accessories. BuyCostumes.com offers one of the largest assortments of costumes and party supplies for adults and children at any single location ‐‐ online or offline. BuyCostumes.com is operated by BUYSEASONS, Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation (LINTA).

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