Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Email memes

I received this email last week - a Propagation of a ridiculous Factoid, based on a wholly False Attribution:

FYI
Lipstick Alert!!!!!!!!!!!!

If there is a female you care anything about, share this with her. I did!!!!! I am also sharing this with the males on my email list, because they need to tell the females THEY care about as well!

Recently a brand called "Red Earth" decreased their prices from $67 to $9.90.
It contained lead. Lead is a chemical which causes cancer. The Brands which contain lead are: 1. CHRISTIAN DIOR 2. LANCOME 3. CLINIQUE 4. Y.S.L 5. ESTEE LAUDER 6. SHISEIDO 7. RED EARTH (Lip Gloss) 8. CHANEL (Lip Conditioner) 9. MARKET AMERICA-MOTNES LIPSTICK.

The higher the lead content, the greater the chance of causing cancer.
After doing a test on lipsticks, it was found that the Y.S.L. lipstick contained the most amount of lead. Watch out for those lipsticks which are supposed to stay longer. If your lipstick stays longer, it is because of the higher content of lead.

Here is the test you can do yourself:


1. Put some lipstick on your hand.
2. Use a Gold ring to scratch on the lipstick.
3. If the lipstick color changes to black then you know the lipstick contains lead.

Please send this information to all your girlfriends, wives and female family members.
This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Dioxin Carcinogens causes cancer, especially breast cancer.

Surprisingly, it's a hoax! Who'd a thunk it?

There are many points I could make about the obvious stupidity of such a claim (eg, long term exposure to lead might cause cancer, but that's the least of your health worries). However, I won't bother and assume readers of this blog wouldn't be silly enough to believe such an obvious (and potentially libellous) fraud.

Ps - if you even suspect an email might be a hoax - then it is. Just "google it" and you'll find your answer.

Pps - did you know they've taken the word "credulous" out of the dictionary?

Ppps - here's another test you can do yourself: 1) Put some lipstick on your knuckles. 2) Punch yourself on the side of the head. 3) Clean you knuckles of lipstick. 4) Punch the same spot - if you did your knuckles should be covered in lipstick again. 5) Repeat.

Did you do it? If yes, the test proved you're quite stupid. If you followed step 4 and then 5, chances are you are very stupid (and now stupider as a result of carrying out the test).

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