News You Can Bruise for 2002 July 30 (entry 7)

Tue Jul 30 2002 22:30: Time for some Murphy-style "laws" which for some reason writing them makes me think it's the mid-90s and there's nothing better on the Web than lists of Murphy-style "laws".

• Leonard's Law Of Advertising: "promotes x" means "we hope you'll experience a placebo effect and attribute it to this product". Eg. "promotes wellness" for dietary supplements, "promotes productivity" for day planners and other business gear.

• Leonard's Law Of Editorials: If an editorial mentions "the culture of x", there probably is no culture of x. If someone is blamed for "creating the culture of x", they probably didn't actually do anything.