Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co product called the "smoke ball" and claimed it to be a cure for influenza and a number of other diseases. (The 1889–1890 flu pandemic was estimated to have killed 1 million people.) The smoke ball was a rubber ball with a tube attached. It was filled with carbolic acid (or phenol). The tube would be inserted into a user's nose and squeezed at the bottom to release the vapours. The nose would run, ostensibly flushing out viral infections. The Company published advertisements in the "Pall Mall Gazette" and other newspapers on November 13, 1891, claiming that it would pay £100
Name-letter effect name-letter effect: when the self was put under threat the effect became stronger, and it disappeared for people with negative self-evaluations. A study by Polman, Pollmann, and Poehlman found that sharing initials with members in a group can increase the quality of group work. In a study of undergraduate students they found that groups sharing initials performed better than groups that did not. Groups that had a higher proportion of shared initials exceeded groups with a lower proportion of shared initials. Researchers have looked for evidence of the driving force behind the name-letter effect outside the lab. A body of