Like the Timex Social Club, I spend a lot of time lamenting the rumors that surround me every day. How do they get started? And where do they get crazy? In Truthmongerer, I’ll try to suss out the kernels of truth in the rumors that are taking up airspace in gossip columns, blogs, and our tips inbox.


THE RUMOR: Earlier this month, KFC distributed a coupon that allowed anyone who bought an Original Recipe Chicken Sandwich Value Meal to get a free copy of Ciara’s eternally delayed, poorly received Fantasy Ride.


TRUTH THRESHOLD: 0%.


LIKELY TRUTHS: Well, the notion that Ciara’s star has fallen precipitously is 100% verified by this rumor’s quick trip around the gossipsphere, although this particular rumor was certainly helped by a somewhat convincing image that allegedly backed up its veracity:





LIKELY FALSEHOODS: If you squint at the coupon above, after you notice that the fonts don’t quite match up, you can see that the fine print says “Customer must purchase 32 oz. fountain drink to receive free sandwich.” And oh hey what’s this–a KFC coupon for a free Original Recipe sandwich with the purchase of a fountain drink!





And if you really do an a-versus-b comparison, you can see that the left end of the sandwich is cut off, much like it would have been if someone had, say, deleted the words in the original coupon for the purposes of making a joke. I’m guessing that this is just a “funny” Photoshop that got let loose into the wild, and spread out to the Internet. Just remember, guys: If there’d really been a promotion like this, wouldn’t KFC have at least put out a press release? Or an ad awkwardly shoehorning “Love, Sex, Magic” into some sort of sandwich metaphor?


[HT: Ian]