The Loony Bin
(
loonies@bloodaxe.demon.co.uk
)
Thu, 17 Apr 1997 14:45:17 +0100
Hiya Folks...
Here's a warning about Proctor & Gamble plus some other rumours, sent to
us by Alan...
Wishes & Dreams...
- ANDREA
xx
***<andrea@bloodaxe.demon.co.uk>****<ajc6@ukc.ac.uk>***
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*******************Internet Goddess********************
**********************ANDROMEDA************************
------- Forwarded foolishness follows -------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
---From 'Rumor!', Hal Morgan and Kerry Tucker
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Proctor & Gamble is run by devil worshippers. (1982)
According to the most rampant version of this rumour, a high executive
of Proctor & Gamble appeared on Merv Griffin (or Phil Donohue, '20/20'
or '60 minutes') and made the stunning admission that his company was
run by devil worshippers and that the company donated ten percent of its
income to satanic groups. As further proof, the rumourmongers pointed to
the thirteen stars on the company's trademark and to the fact that these
connect to form three sixes--666 being one of the devil's favourite
numbers. The rumour was most deeply entrenched in the South, where it
was preached as fact from the pulpits of several fundamentalist
churches.
In June 1982, calls to the company's toll-free number asking about the
rumour reached the level of six hundred a day. That summer Proctor &
Gamble decided to fight the rumour; by waiting quietly, they seemed to
be letting the falsehood run out of control.
The company pressed charges against several southern ministers for
spreading the story. It launched an extensive advertising campaign to
deny the rumour, and company spokespersons explained the real history of
the man-in-the-moon trademark to the media (the thirteen stars were
probably a patriotic gesture when the logo was drawn in 1882).
In addition, religious leaders like Jerry Falwell and Billy Graham were
asked to help in the effort to quash the rumour. If it showed us nothing
else, the rumour certainly shed a revealing light on a part of America
we rarely think of; a lot of people strongly believe in the existence of
the devil.
A leper was found working in the Chesterfield cigarette factory in
Richmond, Virginia. (1934) Not true.
The song 'Gloomy Sunday', recorded by Paul Whiteman, was banned from
radio broadcasts because it triggered so many suicides. (1936) Partly
true.
The flu epidemic that followed World War I was caused by poisoned gases
that circled the globe like invisible tornados. (1918) Not true.
An American prisoner of war in a Japanese prison camp wrote home to his
family that he was being treated well by his captors. He ended his
letter by asking his mother to save the stamp on the envelope for his
collection. The mother soaked the stamp off and found written beneath
it, "They have cut out my tongue." (1942) Not true.
A tidal wave swallowed New York City at the same time the earthquake hit
San Francisco (immediately after the 1906 earthquake). Not true.
Food inspectors allow up to two rat hairs in each grade A hot dog. Not
true. None are allowed but it is inevitable that a few will slip
through. Here are some examples of rumoured guidelines:
-Frozen brocolli: 60 aphids, thrips and/or mites per 100 grams
-32oz can of Tomato juice: 17 fruit-fly eggs or 1.5 maggots
-1oz ground paprika: 82 insect fragments or 12 rodent hairs
-1oz tin of curry: 110 insect fragments or 4 rodent hairs
The tiny letters 'JS' on the Roosevelt dime stand for 'Joseph Stalin'.
(1948) Not true. They are the designers initials, John Sinnock.
Military Intelligence agents regularly visit video arcades and take down
the initials of high scorers. The information is stored on Pentagon
computers for future use. (1981) Not true.
Mount Rainier, in Washington, was given its name in order to promote the
sale of Rainier beer. (1930s) Not true. Started by an angry group who
lobbeyed to have the landmark named Mount Tacoma.
While in office President Grover Cleveland underwent a secret surgery
for the removal of his upper jaw. (1893) True.
The Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. has in its collection the
pickled penis of gangster John Dillinger. It was preserved because of
its extraordinary size. (1940s) Not true.
Orange Fiesta Ware is radioactive. (1940s) True. The orange dishes and
containers were glazed with lead and uranium compounds.
Teflon, DuPont's non-stick coating for frying pans, gives off poisonous
fumes when heated. (1955) Not true.
The fluid at the center of a golf ball is a powerful explosive. (1950s)
Not true, to the dismay of countless children.
If you send a 1943 copper penny to the Ford Motor Company, they will
send you a new Ford car. (1947) Not True. Strange but in 1943, in an
effort to conserve copper for the war effort, the U.S. mint made pennies
out of steel with a zinc plating. So there were no copper pennies you
would believe. However, a few were minted by mistake and there have been
eleven found to date, the last of which sold for $4300--just enough to
buy a 1943 model Ford.
If you peel the label from a bottle of beer in one piece with your
fingernail you are a virgin. (1950s) Who knows?
The tiny stars on the cover of Playboy, printed inside or next to the
letter 'P', are a code to show whether Hugh Hefner slept with the
featured Playmate of the Month. (1960s) Not true. Playboy comes out in
six different advertising editions--one for the military and five for
different regions of the country, each are advertising dependant--and
the stars are a code used to designate the specific region.
The breakfast cereal Force contains morphine. (1940s) Not true.
Absinthe is an anti-aphrodisiac, and is responsible for France's
population decline. (1908) Not true. France's population did decline
slightly in the decade before World War I, and the drop in the birth
rate coincided with a fervent worldwide movement for the prohibition
of alcohol.
Green M&Ms make you horny. (1970s) Who knows?
Coca-Cola is made with cocaine. (1930s) Not true but the soda sold at
fountains in the 1880s and 1890s did contain a weak dose of the drug.
Pop Rocks and Coca-Cola are a lethal combination. Their most famous
victim was Mikey, the little brother on the Life cereal commercials.
(1978) Not true.
Rock Hudson and Jim Nabors were secretly married. (1960s) not true.
Sonny and Cher are both women. (1969) Not true.
Michael Jackson sang the high notes for Diana Ross on several of her
recordings. (1982) Not true.
Robert Young went blind after he played Marcus Welby on the television
series. You can tell because in the Sanka commercials he always has his
hand on someone. (1982) Not true.
'Beaver', Jerry Mathers died in action in Vietnam. (1968) Not true.
Paul McCartney is dead. (1969) Not true. Spread like wildfire after the
release of the album 'Abbey Road'. The 'clues' were all over the cover
and record sleeve.
The Ivory Snow mother, pictured on the detergent box holding a baby, has
gone on to become a porn star. (1970s) True, Marilyn Chambers. [Yes, but
I think they've changed the box cover since then.]
Catherine the Great of Russia had an immense sexual appetite which led
to her death when a horse was lowered on her too fast. Not true. The
Empress suffered apoplexy on her commode and died 2 days later.
Richard Nixon gave Gerald Ford the presidency in exchange for the
pardon. (1974) Possibly true.
A children's-television-show host was taken off the air after he said,
"That ought to shut the little ba$t@rds up!" on live television during
what he thought was a commercial break. (1960s) Not true.
Jerry Lewis is considered a comic genius in France. True! [ACK!]
Walt Disney's body has been frozen in a state of suspended animation, to
be revived when a cure for cancer is discovered. (1969) Not true. [It's
just his head, right? :]
John F. Kennedy is alive and in a coma in a Houston hospital. (1964) Not
true. [Along with Hitler, Elvis, and a sasquatch.]
Jack the Ripper was a member of the British royal family, and, rather
than reveal his identity, police pretended the case was never solved.
(1970) Not true.
Amelia Earhart was on a secret mission to photograph the Japanese
military buildup in the Pacific when she disappeared in 1937. She was
captured by the Japanese and may still be alive. (1937) Unsubstantiated.
A UFO crashed during the Eisenhower administration, and the bodies from
the craft are on ice at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. (1955)
Unsubstantiated.
No astronauts ever went to the moon. The televised landings were staged
at a secret government base in Nevada. (1968) Not true.
A fleet of dead cosmonauts is orbiting the earth, casualties of repeated
accidents in the Russian space program. (1961) Not true.
The oil companies have developed an inexpensive pill that allows cars to
travel two hundred kilometers on a few liters of gas, but they are
keeping it off the market to sustain current levels of gas sales. (1974)
???
Some of the major tobacco companies own marijuana fields in Mexico and,
in anticipation of the legalization of the drug, have already chosen
brand names and designed packages. (1960s) Not true.
MIT and Stanford University students have developed a 'black box' that
enables them to make free telephone calls around the world. (1960s)
True. [It was also possible to do this with a 2600Hz whistle that came
in boxes of Captain Crunch quite some time back.]
The Interstate Highway System was built primarily for military reasons.
(1960s) True.
A secret underground city exists outside Washington, where key military
and government personnel will be whisked in the event of a nuclear war.
(1960s) True, and the list of those to survive include Tip O'Neill,
while certain Senators were not included.