Would you like to Try?: Products Stories of the Urban Legends William Smith & Wikipedia
Contents
Poprocks and Coke Pages 8 Oh Snapple Pages 10 Look For The Indian Pages 12 Bye-Bye-Bye Babies Pages 14 Death by Coconut Pages 16 Heinz 57, why so? Pages 18 Save the Twinkies Pages 20 Fanta, Fanta, Don't You Wanna? Pages 22
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Poprocks & Coke Urban Legend say if you muix Pop Rocks and Coke something bad will happen.
The Legend Rumors persisted that eating Pop Rocks and drinking soda would cause a person's stomach to explode. This was, in part, caused by the false assumption that Pop Rocks contain an acid/ base mixture (such as baking soda and vinegar) which produces large volumes of gas when mixed through chewing and saliva. [9] One of these myths involved a character named Mikey from the Life cereal commercials. Mikey, played by child actor John Gilchrist, was falsely rumored to have died after eating a Pop Rocks and Coca-Cola mixture - namely, a six-pack of Coca-Cola and six pouches of Pop Rocks.[9] This rumor was recently referenced in the 1980's theme sitcom, The Goldbergs, which aired on Wednesday, October 29, 2014. General Foods was battling the "exploding kid" rumors as early as 1979. General Foods sent letters to school principals,[10] created an open letter to parents,[11] took out advertisements in major publications and sent the confection's inventor on the road to explain that a Pop Rocks package contains less gas (namely, carbon dioxide, the same gas used in all carbonated beverages) than half a can of soda.
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Oh Snapple
Snapple, dont have just have one urban legend, They have three.
The Legend In the early 1990s the original label graphic on the Iced Tea flavor, a depiction of the United States historical event the Boston Tea Party was replaced due to misinformation espoused by misguided protest groups claiming the ships on the packaging were slave trading vessels in New York Harbor. Snapple also fell victim to the old rumor that the small "K" was either a representation of the Klan, or of an imagined "Jewish Tax" (augmented by the fact that all three founders were Jewish). The "K" on the products actually meant that they were certified kosher. Snapple initially tried to quell these rumors quietly, but ultimately had to launch a media campaign to squash them, pointing out it would be bad for business to support controversial issues in such a way as the rumors implied. Through a media campaign with the NAACP, Snapple successfully fought back these rumors, although occasionally they are still brought up as fact today.
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Look for the Indain An urban legend involving an Idain on your wrapper
The Legend Some stores redeemed lollipop wrappers with the "shooting star"(bearing an image of a child dressed as a Native American aiming a bow and arrow at a star) for a free sucker. This was clearly up to the store owner and not driven by the lollipop manufacturer. One convenience store in Iowa City, Iowa, for example, gave candy away when the children asked. Also in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Osco Drug used to give children free suckers for star wrappers. In 1994, the owner of Dan’s Shortstop told a reporter that when he first opened children came by often, but after a while, he said, he had to stop giving stuff away‌. Giveaways also occurred in Chico, California, where a 7-Eleven store manager in the Pleasant Valley area, said she had to stop because it had become too expensive. Since 1982, Tootsie Roll Industries has been distributing a short story, The Legend of the Indian Wrapper, to children who mail in their Indian star wrappers as a "consolation prize".
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Bye-Bye-Bye Babies An urban legend about what Mountain Dew can do to you.
The Legend An urban legend about Mountain Dew ingredients is that dye Yellow #5 (tartrazine) lowers sperm count.[21] Tartrazine has never been scientifically linked to any of the alleged effects in the legends; nor has any other component of the drink. On the other hand, a scientific review study showed that among children (with and without ADHD) tartrazine can increase ADHDlike symptoms (see Stevens, Kuczek, Burgess, Hurt & Arnold, 2010).[22] A 12 oz can of Mountain Dew contains 54 mg of caffeine.
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Death by Coconut An urban legends about getting kill by a cocnut.
The Legend Following the publication of Barss' study, exaggerated claims about the number of deaths by coconut began to spread. Reports of death by coconut became so widespread that The Straight Dope, a newspaper column devoted to exposing myths, reported that it had become an urban legend. Another source describes the claim of widespread deaths as a "journalistic equivalent of a contemporary legend". An analysis by the Shark Research Institute cites a press release from Club Travel, a U.K.-based travel insurance company, as helping to spread the urban legend. In an attempt to market travel insurance to individuals traveling to Papua New Guinea, the release stated that coconuts were "ten times more dangerous than sharks". In May 2002, the legend gained new momentum when George H. Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File, claimed that "[f]alling coconuts kill 150 people worldwide each year."
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Heinz 57, why so? An urban legend of the Heinz legend
The Legend The relatively high viscosity and thixotropic nature of ketchup can make pouring it from a glass bottle somewhat difficult and unpredictable, and several urban legends surrounding this phenomenon have arisen. According to one popular folk remedy, repeatedly hitting the "57" mark on a glass Heinz ketchup bottle makes the ketchup pour out more quickly and easily. The New York Times suggests this is a matter of intentional design, with Heinz having placed the "57" mark on that particular spot of the bottle as a target for consumers to hit. Whether or not Heinz intended the 57 as a target is unconfirmed.
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Save The Twinkies An urban legend about Twinkies can save life!.
The Legend The details of the myth may vary, but the basic story goes that Twinkies are made with all chemical ingredients and no actual food products, so they will stay fresh for decades. Some even go so far as to say that a Twinkie can survive a nuclear war. This urban legend was perpetuated when a science teacher in Maine kept one atop his chalk board for 30 years. Although the Twinkie turned rather brittle, the teacher claimed the Twinkie sill appeared fresh and edible. Feeding off of the rumor that Twinkies are made with all chemical ingredients, some claim that Twinkies are not even truly baked. This rumor claims that Twinkies are produced by a chemical action that causes the chemical ingredients to foam when combined and then set. After all, if there is no real food in a Twinkie, then it doesn't need to be baked, right?
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Fanta, Fanta, Don't You Wanna? An Urban Legend about the Fanta.
The Legend When Hitler was in power in Germany, he hated anything to do with America or any of the other "lesser races." He had Coca-Cola banned from Germany because it was a symbol of America. To make the German people less likely to be upset by the announcement, he had his propaganda minister Goebbels hire a team to make a new soft drink. This new drink was called Fanta and marketed with the slogan, "It's the Reich thing." Advertisements were made that were reminiscent of Coke. The idea was to convince people that Coke had merely changed its name as opposed to being banned. A few "underground" propaganda films were also made, prominently showing stereotypical Jewish people drinking Coke while corrupting "pure Arian youth." Products of Disney and other American corporations received similar treatment. After the war, Coca-Cola purchased Fanta in an attempt to turn something evil into something good. Said a Coke spokesperson at the time, "Sure they treated us bad but it could have been worse -- we could have been Jewish."
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Would you like to try?: Products Stories of the Urban Legends
Designed, printed, and bound by William Smith Boise State University, ART 277, Fall of 2014
Typefaces include: Cracked, American Typewriter, Arial Black, Marion