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 companies that match their initial. But Simonsohn suspected that, like Walt Disney working for Disney, many people work for companies named after themselves or a family member. When he controlled for reverse causality in a large US data set, he could not see any evidence for people choosing to work for companies matching their initial. A few controversial studies have linked performance to initials. However, McCullough and Williams found no evidence of a name-letter effect for the letter 'K' in baseball players striking out (shown on the scoreboard with a 'K'), despite an earlier study by Nelson and Simmons suggesting