the hno campaign had been conducted through an internet memo to distributors and restaurants. in july 2001, rob cockerham, a graphic designer in sacramento, came across the olive garden success story following an online search, and posted a link to the story on his website, cockeyed.com. in an interview with "the new york times", cockerham noted how "i had to assure more than one person that this was not a prank, and that it was a real article from coca-cola."