POINT LOMA, Calif. (KGTV) - A Girl Scout troop fundraiser is ruffling a few feathers in Point Loma, over a name that some people think is too risque for the girls.
Troop 4920 started the "Get Flocked" project this spring, offering to cover people's yards in plastic flamingos for a donation.
"We took our name from the "Got Milk" campaign," says Troop Leader Cam Bowman. "So we were like, hey, let's do "Got Flocked?" Then we turned it to the present tense, 'Get Flocked.' "
Bowman says someone complained to the local Girl Scout council that the name sounds too much like a profanity. She was surprised when she learned of the complaint.
"You know, I think that happens with everything in life," she says. "We're always going to have controversy. We have controversy when we sell cookies!"
For their part, the scouts say they don't think the name has anything to do with a dirty word. They're having too much fun planting flamingos to think about that.
"You get in and get out," says Scout Elyse Bonar. "You don't want people to see you. That's kind of the whole point, be like ninjas."
The girls ask for a $25 donation to "flock" somebody's yard within their Troop's zip code boundaries. They'll also remove the flamingos if requested.
They're trying to raise money to attend the annual ceremony in San Francisco where thousands of Junior Scouts walk across the Golden Gate Bridge together as they get promoted to Cadet Scouts. It's a symbolic coming of age moment for the girls.
Elyse says working to raise the money for the trip, even with a fun flamingo project, has taught her a valuable life lesson.
"It's taught me how if you want to get something, don't quit, keep going and try your hardest to get your goal," she says.
The "Get Flocked" project is one of several that Troop 4920 do over the year. The money they raise from cookie sales goes to local charities. They're also collecting used markers to send to Crayola for recycling.
As for the controversy over the name, Bowman says the Girl Scout leaders left it up to her and the Troop to decide what to do. They chose to keep the project going forward, with the same name.
"We have to put those decisions back on the girls," she says. "Money-earning projects are hard. Cookie sales are hard. This is one thing where they have a great time, getting into the community, going out there and being silly in the process."
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