Become a Lord or Lady!

This amused us.  
Established Titles is "selling"1 foot by 1 foot (or a bit bigger) plots of land in Scotland, and giving "proclamations" that say as a landowner in Scotland, you may now call yourself Lord or Lady, as that is the title for landowners there.
It's a silly gimmick, yes.
BUT! They promise to plant at least one tree for each plot "sold."

Two impossible to shop for men on my mom's Christmas list will be aware that they are now Lords by the time the holiday season is over.  
Hopefully they will find the concept entertaining.
If you look, check the holiday sale tab.

:D

John actually did this as a Christmas gift for his parents, back in... I think 2015. They received certificates of ownership, with the exact coordinates of each of their parcels. Interestingly, his mom immigrated to the USA from Scotland, to marry his dad, after they met while he was on a golf vacation, over there. And, his dad's folks immigrated here, a generation earlier, from Ireland. It's the perfect gift for that someone who seems to have everything.

Well, this is an excellent gift, Ms. lady Pearl!
I like it!
The perfect gift for someone who is impossible to buy for!
Yes... oh my,  Sir Lord Thomas of Dragontech manor... (polishes fingernails)   sounds good, right?  
I can hear Liz laughing her head off now!  
Hey, your Lordship, your dog just dragged home another animal carcass... get your Royal ass out there and clean that up!

thomas rubino wrote:
Yes... oh my,  Sir Lord Thomas of Dragontech manor... (polishes fingernails)   sounds good, right?

YES!! I think you need a formal title!  

I can hear Liz laughing her head off now!  
Hey, your Lordship, your dog just dragged home another animal carcass... get your Royal ass out there and clean that up!

Exactly! That's one of the duties of a Lord, don'tchaknow!! :D

There was a scandal around this company about them false advertising and that you are not the real owner of that plot of land, just a paper. Although the gift is funny and the tree planting is cool, it's important to note it's not a real title.

1 square foot? Phew, now we need to design really tiny castles!

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:1 square foot? Phew, now we need to design really tiny castles!

With even tinier RMHs!!

Maybe if I buy 100 of these I will have room for a tiny house ….  And a seat in Parliament!!!

That is not the only company selling the title Lord and Lady, there is one I saw in England.

I think this is a great idea for a gag gift.

Years ago I got dear hubby a star that came with a certificate that said the star was named after him.  I wonder what ever happened to that star.

ETA: This isn't me knocking something people think is fun, just showing how I came to know (just a few days ago) that this even existed. I mostly thought it was a neat coincidence.

I didn't know this was even a thing until a video about it popped up the other day on a YouTube channel I occasionally frequent.

Anne Miller wrote:That is not the only company selling the title Lord and Lady, there is one I saw in England.

I think this is a great idea for a gag gift.

Years ago I got dear hubby a star that came with a certificate that said the star was named after him.  I wonder what ever happened to that star.

We did this for our daughter's, one year. They each got a star map with the location, and a stuffed animal, and then they picked the name for the stuffie, which then was sent in, to be 'registered' as the new name of 'their' star. It was fun, and silly, and the girls, at 10 & 11 LOVED it.

Christopher Weeks wrote:I didn't know this was even a thing until a video about it popped up the other day on a YouTube channel I occasionally frequent.  

Pearl put a disclaimer in the op, so no one here is promoting it as a valid means to "aristocracy". As long as the buyer is aware, it can be a fun, silly, and even sweet gift.

To me, this is all in good fun for just a laugh.  Remember this is the Meaningless Drivel forum.

What is a more meaningless drivel?

At least they say they will plant a tree and the world needs all the trees it can get.

I shall use my lordly influence to establish my square foot as a rotten burough along the lines of Dunny On The Wold, selling political favors to the highest bidder.

Rotten Burough

Dunny On The Wold

I’m revealing my age here Anyone else remember a similar deal for buying one square foot Right Next To then president Jimmy Carters peanut farm?

Oh noes! It's a scam? Next you'll be telling me I don't own that acre on the moon...

There was a bit of a run on doing this for real back in the 90s - a few people had businesses locating and purchasing tiny scraps of land that legally had a Lord or Lady of the Manor title attached, and then sold them on for a profit at property auctions. I used to watch the auctions looking for affordable smallholding land or woodland in my area, and giggled at the idea that someone would pay thousands of pounds for a basically worthless yet genuine title. But those scraps of land did sell, and the proud owner could legally title themselves Lord of Little Bottom, or whatever the land was called.

I've got something!  Check out the Principality of Sealand.  It is a micronation that has been around for 50 -ish years and really is an interesting story!
https://sealandgov.org/the-story/
I am a Lady.

I'm sure my pet rock will be impressed by my new Scottish Lord title.

I treated myself to a title (via an Established Titles micro-plot) about two years ago and enjoy being Lady Carola, though I've told only my family and a few friends along the way. It's just a joke but oddly it lifted my spirits - and it was a clever fund-raiser for a good cause. It's also a way to bypass the tedious question of "Miss, Ms or Mrs?".

Pearl Sutton wrote:This amused us.  
Established Titles is "selling"1 foot by 1 foot (or a bit bigger) plots of land in Scotland, and giving "proclamations" that say as a landowner in Scotland, you may now call yourself Lord or Lady, as that is the title for landowners there.
It's a silly gimmick, yes.
BUT! They promise to plant at least one tree for each plot "sold."

Two impossible to shop for men on my mom's Christmas list will be aware that they are now Lords by the time the holiday season is over.  
Hopefully they will find the concept entertaining.
If you look, check the holiday sale tab.

:D

The same company behind Established Titles also sells Kamikoto knives which are also deceptively marketed and over priced. For me a gag gift falls in the $10 range. The Established title Lord/Lady package starts at $42 + $30 if you want a printed certificate. They are also not clear as to how much of the purchase goes toward planting trees. I've heard they offer full refunds.  

leigh gates wrote:I’m revealing my age here Anyone else remember a similar deal for buying one square foot Right Next To then president Jimmy Carters peanut farm?

I haven't heard of that, but around the same time as his presidency there was another fad of the Pet Rock.

Awww, c'mon Pearl...I was gonna get a 6x6 plot to compost my carcass when I croak

Hmmm... the entrepreneur in me senses a business opportunity here! For a mere $20 I could sell a lifetime (mine, not yours, sorry) lease on a square foot of land, plant a tree of your choosing (several species to choose from!) and provide a certificate of ownership with the title of your choosing. This could be the easiest money I've ever made! (Laughing maniacally).

leigh gates wrote:I’m revealing my age here Anyone else remember a similar deal for buying one square foot Right Next To then president Jimmy Carters peanut farm?

I bet Mr. Carter would make an excellent neighbor.

Plus, it is in the US so you know it isn't a scam when they say square "foot"...

Julie Reed wrote:Hmmm... the entrepreneur in me senses a business opportunity here! For a mere $20 I could sell a lifetime (mine, not yours, sorry) lease on a square foot of land, plant a tree of your choosing (several species to choose from!) and provide a certificate of ownership with the title of your choosing. This could be the easiest money I've ever made! (Laughing maniacally).

Actually, silly as that idea is, it's legitimately not a bad idea.  If something like that could be truly controlled and guaranteed to work for people in Madagascar (which is currently undergoing environmental catastrophe due to rapid ongoing deforestation), that might be a good way to both save their nation's future and help people in poverty.

The main issue is that things like that have been tried (that's what carbon offsets usually are), and they often turn out to be useless, because the person saying they'll plant the tree (or not cut down the tree) has zero accountability, and usually won't plant it, or will cut it down anyway, because they can make more profit that way.  (Or because $20 today might feed them today, but next year, they may need income again, and cutting down that tree to sell it will give them some.  Poverty stinks.)

Anyway, just wanted to say that it's a great idea, in theory, and if it could be guaranteed that the promises would actually be kept, it would be a wonderful way to lift people out of poverty and also help the planet a bit.

Julie Reed wrote:Hmmm... the entrepreneur in me senses a business opportunity here! For a mere $20 I could sell a lifetime (mine, not yours, sorry) lease on a square foot of land, plant a tree of your choosing (several species to choose from!) and provide a certificate of ownership with the title of your choosing. This could be the easiest money I've ever made! (Laughing maniacally).

The ecosia search engine I use turned it into their business model. I'd rather even fuel someone's tree farming operation than most of the other options.

https://www.ecosia.org/