Elyse Porterfield became a certified internet sensation this week after her portrayal as "Jenny", the office girl who allegedly quit her job and then outed her boss' FarmVille habit on the way out the door, using a clever series of dry-erase board photos to unveil her devious departure.
The foxy Jenny character was channeled by Porterfield, 22, an aspiring Los Angeles actress and singer who hails from Greeley, Colorado. The wildly popular Jenny story turned out to be a deliberate hoax launched under the creative direction of John and Leo Resig at TheChive.com.
This brilliantly executed ruse that was intended as pure entertainment, became an overnight smash hit when TechCrunch, Mashable and the New York Post to name a few, bit down hard on the story and reported it as fact. The internet hysteria that followed instantly elevated 'Jenny' to a virtual working class heroine overnight.
My fascination with Ms. Porterfield went into overdrive when I realized she might be an iPhone fanatic, after I spotted her fondling an iPhone 4 in one of the follow-up photos posted after Jenny's story was confirmed a hoax. I had to know if this ultra-cute "it girl" was also a committed iPhone chick.
It turns out that Elyse Porterfield stood in line at the Glendale Galleria Apple store, along with thousands of other Mac faithful on June 24, 2010 to embrace her very first iPhone.
It's true! Her iPhone 4 love affair is no hoax.
Porterfield told the iPhone Savior, "It's my first iPhone, and I love it! Everybody complains about the antenna issues, but I think people are being really picky and complainy. It works fine for me."
I asked Elyse to reveal her favorite app during our brief but spirited exchange, "The big one is Angry Birds," said Elyse, "I love me some Angry Birds. That's my FarmVille."
Since Porterfield became an internet darling, she has received thousands of Facebook friend requests. There's even a rabid gang of Facebookers rallying to get Jenny into Playboy Magazine. The rogue group "1,000,000 Strong for Jenny DryErase to Pose in Playboy" are still short by a massive 998 thousand likes.
So I asked this confirmed iPhone hottie how she's been handling her new found fame and curious Facebook friends.
"It's been out of control," said Porterfield, "I'm still completely stunned. I've had over 4,000 Facebook friend requests. I had to enlist my little sister to work for me, accepting all those Facebook requests so I could respond back."
"Just ask to be my friend, I love it. I think it's great" she said.
And what about Playboy? "Most definitely not!," said Elyse, "I'm telling everybody I'll do a fully clothed pictorial if that's what they want."
While it would have been a jackpot to learn that Ms. Porterfield is a full fledged Mac Chick, she told the iPhone Savior that aside from her iPhone, she's still a PC. Although the Official Elyse, which is her Twitter name, did admit to visiting the Glendale Apple Store daily to get her Mac fix. Other than her various acting roles, Elyse does not work a full time job.
"I mean I would go for an iPad and a MacBook if I had the money," Elyse said without hesitation "I'll take an offer from Apple any day".
If you're wondering what's in the immediate future for this L.A. newcomer, you could be seeing her soon as a featured extra in Project X, a new comedy film by "Hangover" Producer and Director Todd Phillips. It would be extremely gratifying to watch the young Elyse Porterfield skillfully flip her 15 minutes of Jenny fame into a full blown career path into Hollywood stardom. I want to believe.
For now, maybe someone can just start up a Facebook group called, "3,000 Strong Will Donate One Dollar For Jenny To Get A MacBook and iPad." I'll be the first one to pass the bucks.
[Photo by Elyse Porterfield blowing Steve Jobs a kiss]
Comments