Mahir Çağrı

Who is Mahir Çağrı?

Mahir Çağrı became an Internet celebrity in 1999. His picture-laden personal homepage, which exclaimed in broken English his love of the accordion, travel, and women was visited by millions and spawned numerous fansites and parodies, one featured on Fox's MadTV. He was also repeatedly parodied in the 1999s episodes of the Late Show with David Letterman wearing red Speedos and playing Ping Pong. Mahir was ranked #2 in CNET's Top 10 Web fads. The site was also included in PC World's "The 25 Worst Web Sites" list. Mahir claimed in various interviews that his personal webpage was hacked, with additions such as "I like sex" embedded into his webpage. The site was originally hosted on the now defunct XOOM web hosting service which advertised Mahir on their front page during the mania.

Çağrı was used in British TV advertising for smartgroups.com by St. Luke's advertising agency.

Mahir Çağrı's website was quickly spread through word of mouth on the internet. The website came at a time when "Internet phenomenon" was a new concept for Internet users, media, and the curious public. Novelty pages such as Dancing baby and The Hampster Dance created a precedent of mass viewing for Mahir's page. Mahir was also parodied on Madtv, the popularity grew to such a point to where Çağrı released a single titled 'I Kiss You' in 2000.