3 ms·

The history behind the chocolate hoax (2015)

47 points by nkurz 9y ago

HenryBemis 9y ago
In a chocolate-related note, a tip from a friend who is a candy maker: if you enjoy 'delicassy-X' and some time down the line, someone comes up with 'chocolate-coated-delicassy-X', stay away. (Apparently) Chocolate has such a strong taste/odour that it covers many smells/flavors, and you may end up eating outdated or reduced quality (e.g.) baklava. As for the hoax.. Peter Steiner drew it in 1993: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Internet%2C_nobody_knows_you're_a_dog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Internet%2C_nobody_know...
jwilk 9y ago
See also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16673175 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16673175
masona 9y ago
In 2014 my friends and I made up something similar, and it went viral. Only the NYT and the Guardian called to fact-check, and when they couldn’t verify the story, didn’t run anything. Everyone else ran it without even contacting us, even though our info was on the page. When your business model is based on impressions, fact-checking is an unnecessary expense. Ad revenue is what matters. The funny thing is, the content farms masquerading as blogs don’t have as much power anymore because they have to pay just to have their stories seen. So it doesn’t seem to work as much anymore (based on a few more experiments we did).
- heinrichf 9y ago
  Would you mind sharing what it was ?
  - masona 9y ago
    The project was a special kind of restaurant. Here’s a funny story about it: https://www.reddit.com/r/trees/comments/7t5bdm/tifu_by_getting_all_of_gq_stoned/?st=JF78BQNA&sh=40792e2a https://www.reddit.com/r/trees/comments/7t5bdm/tifu_by_getti...
- fjsolwmv 9y ago
  The good news is that now these outlets will run reaction stories "No, Foo didn't really Bar"
fjsolwmv 9y ago
How can a Harvard scientist keep his job after intentionally defrauding the public and harming millions of people?
- Lazare 9y ago
  A good question, but unrelated to the current story where no such thing happened.
dmix 9y ago
This is the original essay the author of the 'study' wrote for i09: https://io9.gizmodo.com/i-fooled-millions-into-thinking-chocolate-helps-weight-1707251800 https://io9.gizmodo.com/i-fooled-millions-into-thinking-choc... Might be a better source as it contains picture examples of some of the publications. Notably the article also included additional legitimate research from Roy Morgan that chocolate doesn't increase BMI. The additional (phoney) research that it also reduces weight came from a fake but real seeming "Institute of Diet and Health", which had a real looking website and utilized the legitimate PhD of Harvard Educated Bohannon to sell it. I'd imagine real companies using this ploy to sell fake research would: a) not risk fraud charges by setting up a fake institute b) have to find a real PhD willing to risk their reputation and future credibility on tying their name to a fake study. What would have been more interesting was if they merely took a real, relatively benign, study on nutrition/health and spun it to something far more than it is, then sold it to some papers. Even using the existing authors (as some companies like Exxon have paid scientists to - not lie - but pump up legitimate studies in their own benefit. The authors went a step farther by including a completely fake institute which somewhat bothers me.
ameliaquining 9y ago
Counterpoint: https://slatestarcodex.com/2015/05/30/that-chocolate-study/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2015/05/30/that-chocolate-study/

47 points by nkurz 9y ago

In a chocolate-related note, a tip from a friend who is a candy maker: if you enjoy 'delicassy-X' and some time down the line, someone comes up with 'chocolate-coated-delicassy-X', stay away. (Apparently) Chocolate has such a strong taste/odour that it covers many smells/flavors, and you may end up eating outdated or reduced quality (e.g.) baklava. As for the hoax.. Peter Steiner drew it in 1993: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Internet%2C_nobody_knows_you're_a_dog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Internet%2C_nobody_know...

jwilk 9y ago

See also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16673175 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16673175

masona 9y ago

In 2014 my friends and I made up something similar, and it went viral. Only the NYT and the Guardian called to fact-check, and when they couldn’t verify the story, didn’t run anything. Everyone else ran it without even contacting us, even though our info was on the page. When your business model is based on impressions, fact-checking is an unnecessary expense. Ad revenue is what matters. The funny thing is, the content farms masquerading as blogs don’t have as much power anymore because they have to pay just to have their stories seen. So it doesn’t seem to work as much anymore (based on a few more experiments we did).

heinrichf 9y ago
Would you mind sharing what it was ?
- masona 9y ago
  The project was a special kind of restaurant. Here’s a funny story about it: https://www.reddit.com/r/trees/comments/7t5bdm/tifu_by_getting_all_of_gq_stoned/?st=JF78BQNA&sh=40792e2a https://www.reddit.com/r/trees/comments/7t5bdm/tifu_by_getti...
fjsolwmv 9y ago
The good news is that now these outlets will run reaction stories "No, Foo didn't really Bar"

fjsolwmv 9y ago

How can a Harvard scientist keep his job after intentionally defrauding the public and harming millions of people?

Lazare 9y ago
A good question, but unrelated to the current story where no such thing happened.

dmix 9y ago

This is the original essay the author of the 'study' wrote for i09: https://io9.gizmodo.com/i-fooled-millions-into-thinking-chocolate-helps-weight-1707251800 https://io9.gizmodo.com/i-fooled-millions-into-thinking-choc... Might be a better source as it contains picture examples of some of the publications. Notably the article also included additional legitimate research from Roy Morgan that chocolate doesn't increase BMI. The additional (phoney) research that it also reduces weight came from a fake but real seeming "Institute of Diet and Health", which had a real looking website and utilized the legitimate PhD of Harvard Educated Bohannon to sell it. I'd imagine real companies using this ploy to sell fake research would: a) not risk fraud charges by setting up a fake institute b) have to find a real PhD willing to risk their reputation and future credibility on tying their name to a fake study. What would have been more interesting was if they merely took a real, relatively benign, study on nutrition/health and spun it to something far more than it is, then sold it to some papers. Even using the existing authors (as some companies like Exxon have paid scientists to - not lie - but pump up legitimate studies in their own benefit. The authors went a step farther by including a completely fake institute which somewhat bothers me.

ameliaquining 9y ago

Counterpoint: https://slatestarcodex.com/2015/05/30/that-chocolate-study/ https://slatestarcodex.com/2015/05/30/that-chocolate-study/