"Meanest Mom on the Planet" Talks About Car Ad (Written by Elizabeth Bishop) Posted by:Lloyd Woodward--Friday, January 11, 2008

OLDS 1999 Intrigue:
"Totally uncool parents who obviously don't love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for 3 weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom on the planet."





Jane Hambleton told Good Morning America she never intended to generate so much publicity. She just wanted to sell her son's car and teach the 19-year-old a lesson after she found alcohol in the vehicle.

Still, the tone of the ad garnered much attention:

"I know that if you want to move something, you want to sell it, it has to stand out," she said.

It did. Hambleton got dozens of calls.

"I got about 70 parents, but nobody wanted to buy the car," said the 48-year-old from Fort Dodge, Iowa. People just called to support her and thank her for standing up for herself.

The "meanest mom on the planet" moniker was part of her salesmanship, and Hambleton said she figured every parent had been called that at least once.

Hambleton's son Steven said he learned of the classified listing when a friend called his mother's cell phone asking for the "meanest mom in the world."

"My friends gave me a hard time," he said.

Hambleton said she never intended to generate publicity. She really only wanted to sell the car and said she was not looking to gain attention.

"The intention was to sell the car," and not humiliate her son, she said.

The story exploded after Hambleton gave an interview to her local newspaper, the Des Moines Register. Full Story.