A wiggle in her walk? That’s what Veet Hair Removal Cream likes…
Feminine product company offers
mathematician £500 to "validate" their
product.
One of my favorite John C. Dvorak-cranky-fits is over stereotypical magazine list articles: like, “The 10 Best Left-Handed Wingnuts”.
Well, the Guardian Unlimited does frequent bad-science articles and here’s one even more unscientific than three editors sitting around on a coffee break inventing a “List”.
Jessica Alba has the perfect wiggle, study says. You have to respect a paper like the Telegraph, especially when they report important science news like this, especially when it’s accompanied by a photograph of some hot totty. “The film actress has the ultimate sexy strut, according to Cambridge mathematicians.”
I was delighted to see it reported. I discussed the possibility of prostituting my good reputation for this same piece of guff with the PR company.
Clarion Communications do a survey, but they’ve decided what the result is. Then they bring in Cambridge. Then they put out a release headlined: “Jessica Alba voted sexiest walk: with the figures to prove it.” Nice. Who did the survey? It was an internal email sent around the company.
They offered Ben Goldacre £500 to invent the math to prove the results of their “survey” - which they hadn’t done, yet!
The PR company said the work was by Professor Richard Weber.
He [Weber] then said: “The Clarion press release was not approved by me and is factually incorrect and misleading in suggesting there has been any serious attempt to do serious mathematics here.” He simply analysed survey data.
The survey data the PR boffins probably invented on their own.
I’d guess most of the folks who wander through here wouldn’t be taken in by such intellectual Jello. But, I’ll bet each of us knows dozens who would.
Posted: Tue - September 4, 2007 at 06:47 AM