History Main / HereComesTheScience

* Former journalist Ben Goldacre was science correspondent for ''[[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers the Guardian]]''. After leaving print newspapers, he wrote the book ''Bad Science'' based on his experiences, and devotes several chapters to deconstructing and challenging the way the advertising industry mis-uses science in order to shift product. He points out that the reason why advertising and marketing can get away with misleading and even false claims for its products for so long is that no effective scrutiny exists. The media does not tend to recruit people with science degrees - most journalists and execs come out of a humanities background - and are therefore ill-equipped to apply critical thought to claims made on behalf of a product. Goldacre also points out that very few politicians, civil servants or lawmakers have a scientific training, and threfore advertising executives, pseudo-medical "alternative practitioners" and Big Pharma can easily bamboozle them. Dr Goldacre now appears as a dissident scientific voice on radio and TV, and has occasionally popped up as a contestant on ''Series/{{QI}}''[[note]]An episode of ''Series/YesPrimeMinister'' also makes this point: a Prime Minister with an economics degree and a Cabinet Secretary whose degree is in the Classics struggle to make sense of whether a new chemical factory will be a health hazard or not, and utterly miss the relevant points.[[/note]]

->''Here comes the science part... concentrate!''\\

* Former journalist Ben Goldacre was science correspondent for ''[[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers the Guardian]]''. After leaving print newspapers, he wrote the book ''Bad Science'' based on his experiences, and devotes several chapters to deconstructing and challenging the way the advertising industry mis-uses science in order to shift product. He points out that the reason why advertising and marketing can get away with misleading and even false claims for its products for so long is that no effective scrutiny exists. The media does not tend to recruit people with science degrees - most journalists and execs come out of a humanities background - and are therefore ill-equipped to apply critical thought to claims made on behalf of a product. Goldacre also points out that very few politicians, civil servants or lawmakers have a scientific training, and threfore advertising executives, pseudo-medical "alternative practitioners" and Big Pharma can easily bamboozle them. [[note]]An episode of ''Series/YesPrimeMinister'' also makes this point: a Prime Minister with an economics degree and a Cabinet Secretary whose degree is in the Classics struggle to make sense of whether a new chemical factory will be a health hazard or not, and utterly miss the relevant points.[[/note]]

** Similarly, anyone using the term "[[YouKeepUsingThatWord chemicals]]" to mean "[[AppealToNature anything that's artificial and therefore dangerous]]." The fact is, ''anything you could put in, on, or near your body is a chemical.'' No matter whether it's found in nature or made in a lab somewhere or both. The entire world we live in is made up of chemicals...in fact, ''your entire body'' is made up of chemicals!

Related to PainCenter; compare AllNaturalSnakeOil. Not to be confused with those warning signs they show on Series/{{Mythbusters}} (Warning!: Science Content) to warn the viewer of the impending um, uh...[[BuffySpeak science thing.]]

*** Compare the ''Film/ResidentEvil'' movie trailer, with its T-Cell based [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhiNbKIAGS0 Regenerate]] beauty cream with the one for Oil of Olay's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep0_KHp-0yA Regenerist]] product line....

** Those ads are eerily similar to the faux cosmetics ads in the ''Film/ResidentEvil'' movie trailers...

* Hyaluronic acid. Which, surprisingly enough, is a real thing and not an invention of the marketing division for face creams. this is touted as the miracle ingredient for revitalising dry or older skin - despite the fact that better research suggests it's generally useless, and in over-large doses can provoke the very dehydrating effect it is supposed to aleviate.