AOL UK has appointed Karen Thomson to the newly created post of CEO, the online giant confirmed today.

Thomson - who has been MD of AOL UK since 1999 - gets the new job title as part of senior level reshuffling that's been underway since last autumn.

As the congratulations of her appointment flowed in today, it was said that Thomson's promotion was deserved not least because of her crusade to introduce unmetered Net access in the UK.

While El Reg doesn't want to take anything away from Thomson's special day, we reckon there are other unsung heroes and heroines within AOL UK who equally deserve such high praise for the reform.

Instead, we'd like to heap praise on Thomson for her leading role in creating "Connie" - the annoying "online genie" cum "interactive icon" that has fronted AOL UK's TV and print ads since 1998.

Thomson will, no doubt, sizzle with delight at the thought that her creation helped give AOL UK 90 per cent consumer awareness. Bravo.

Shame, then, that the ads scooped the "Top Turkey of the Year" award last year at the annual ceremony dished out by Campaign magazine.

Said the judges: "A prissy know-all is a strange choice to symbolise the exciting new media revolution."

That's Connie, by the way, not Thomson.

Anyhow, enough of that.

Elsewhere, vulture-eyed Reg readers have told us that cybercafe chain, easyEverything, has carried out its threat to park a lorry outside AOL UK's offices in London with an ad depicting Easy Group boss, Stelios Haji-Ioannou, tearing up an AOL account.

The vehicle mysteriously broke down outside the offices around 8.30 this morning - just in time for staff arriving for work to see it - before shuffling off half an hour later.

Expect a complaint to wing its way to the Advertising Standards Authority any minute... ®

Related Story

Stelios fails to show outside AOL UK
Stelios ads slam AOL
AOL and BT triumph with ad turkeys