It's Not Too Late to Buy This 6-Foot Rick Perry Chia Head

Necessity is the mother of invention, and we need a 6-foot terra cotta flower planter that looks extraordinarily like Texas Governor/wannabe presidential nominee Rick Perry. It is for sale on eBay for $4,500 (local pick-up offered in Blanco, Texas). "The outline of his hair is surprisingly accurate, with holes throughout to grow lush grass, flowing ivy or flowering plants. Prayer plants might be appropriate," writes the eBay seller, Momdogger.

But wherever did this come from? The story is good, very nearly too good to be true! Texas-based company Dairy Waste Management commissioned the head for their Cow Wow campaign (Cow Wow is liquid fertilizer made from dairy cow manure that doesn't have a manure smell) prior to the 2010 Texas gubernatorial election. They also commissioned a bust of Bill White.

The "hair" of each candidate was ivy nourished by Cow Wow, and voters were asked to vote for their favorite hair. Nobody had to split hairs in that race -- Bill White won by a landslide.

Then, Rick's head went to the ACL Music Festival in Austin, where he was kissed by concert-goers and whatnot. And then, Leslie Hearne, founder of Dairy Waste Management, told us, he retired to Blanco, Texas, where he's been hanging out in the barn. Hearne decided to sell him when Perry commented during a recent debate that he would be offended if someone thought he could be bought for $5,000.

"I pulled him out," she said, and put him up for sale on eBay (plants not included; a gallon of Cow Wow is). As she explains in the listing, "He obviously hasn't evaluated his worth as a gigantic planter. You can secure this bad boy for only $4,500."

Bill White's head is also for sale. Reactions have included people writing that they want the chia head for Christmas and that they can picture it in their living rooms, as well as posted instructions on how to care for a 6-foot-tall Rick Perry Head.

However, "I have not gotten that shrewd buyer to pick up the phone and call me," Hearne said. The proceeds, she tells us, would probably go to the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association, or perhaps the Alopecia Society.

Buy a 6-Foot-Tall Rick Perry Chia Pet [Gawker via Daily Intel]

[JDoll / @thisisjendoll]

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