As anyone alive in 2003 will remember, the “Lemon Shark” ditty was everywhere for a few months. Starting off as a simple advertising hook for R1ngt0nes.Biz, along with four others (Orange Bear, Lime Tiger, Tangerine Lion), Lemon Shark quickly eclipsed the others and became the focus of a sustained advertising campaign. Combined with a variety of lemon sharks, including CGI and men in suits, an extended version of the song even charted in both the UK and the US.
Of course, there was a downside to the fad, and a reason that it disappeared more quickly and completely than most. R1ngt0ne.biz didn’t sell ringtones, but rather sold subscriptions to a ringtone service that charged $20 per month for access to a library of 20,000 tones, including Lemon Shark. Most people, upon receiving their first month’s bill, called to complain and within a year the company was so inundated by lawsuits and complaints that its Delaware business license was revoked. While Lemon Shark was sold (to Guangzhang Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. d/b/a Harmonium Labs), the subsequent uses of the character very quickly sank into obscurity.
Excerpts From Nonexistent Books 