Every Minute?
PT Barnum is often quoted as saying that “There’s a sucker born every minute”, a quotation he denied ever making. Regardless of who first said it, when Barnum died in 1891, the world population was something like 1.6 billion. It’s now north of 6 billion. Does that mean there’s a sucker born every quarter minute now?
Apparently, the answer is yes.
A spoof website offering computer users a tan through their screens has received nearly 2million visits in just a few months, a skin cancer charity said today.
Computertan.com was launched by charity Skcin in a bid to raise awareness of the danger of ultraviolet rays.
Its infomercial, designed by advertising agency McCann Erickson, promises viewers a tan from the safety of their desk and offers a free trial of the ‘tantastic experience’.
The slick production even runs a fake calibration tool to set up the gadget.
But images of UV bars on the screen soon fade to reveal the message: ‘Don’t be fooled. UV exposure can kill.’
Viewers are then met with graphic pictures of damage done by ultraviolet rays.
Personally, we here at the Crabitat prefer to tan under the glare of the multitude of LEDs that we have here in the main bunker. Indicators for DSL modems, routers, UPS equipment and the multitude of computers are everywhere. Monitor light is far too harsh.
This is, of course, not the first time this sort of thing has happened. There’s Havidol for example. Or DHMO.org.
Not that we here at the Crabitat would stoop to registering a website dedicated to cracking the Shakespeare Code or anything…..
Geek Stuff, World news | Gaius May 11, 2009
