Advertising Space To Die For

A Los Angeles woman has come up with a novel way of paying off her mortgage. She could have locked her house and mailed the keys to the bank or she could have done like so many others, begged for a handout. Jane Anderson of Van Nuys, put her thinking hat on and realised that she owned a prime piece of real estate in the Los Angeles area, namely her burial plot in a well known graveyard.

"It's just been sitting there for a number of years now", Anderson said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, "I figured I should be doing something with it". Some years ago, in an effort to save her family money, she bought a very tasteful headstone for her plot and had it placed in position. Anderson admitted that she was somewhat 'weirded out' the first time she visited her grave but now visits regularly to check out the neighbors.

Like most people now Jane Anderson finds herself in a constant battle to make ends meet. At the height of the recent real estate bubble she took out a second mortgage and spent the money on a once in a lifetime vacation to Las Vegas. "It was a wonderful experience but now the money is gone and I am stuck with the repayments", said a somewhat rueful Anderson.

It was during one of her recent visits to the graveyard that Anderson had a brainwave. She decided that her blank headstone would be a great place to put an advertisement. "Eat at Joe's. I would if I could" and "Visit Vegas. Party like there's no tomorrow". It was then that Anderson decided to auction off the rights to advertise on her headstone.

Winner of the auction gets to put their ad on the headstone for a yet to be specified length of time. "Obviously I don't want the ad carved into the marble surface of the stone", she said but quickly added, "Unless the price is right of course". Anderson envisions a company putting their advertisement on the face of the marble using perspex and a silicon sealer. "I woke up laughing during the night when I thought of an advertiser using a motion activated 'voice' on my headstone". Anderson laughs now as she sees someone passing her grave and a voice suddenly says, "Hey. If it wasn't for the fact I'm dead I'd be selling my stuff on zolanta.com". Anderson sees her headstone becoming a tourist attraction and as such is a very valuable piece of real estate for advertisers.

In a statement to ABC7 Eyewitness News Anderson said she selected the online auction site Zolanta to run the auction because she wanted greater international exposure. For further information please visit and place a bid at Zolanta.com.

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