JLVernonPhD presents "American SciCo"

Brief: Duped by an ad on the National Geographic website, I’m reminded why Pepsigate was such a big deal.

Recently, while reading a story on the National Geographic website about the migration of Christmas Island red crabs, a headline in the sidebar caught my eye.  Along the sidebar were several headlines for stories such as “Lizard Evolving for Live Birth” and “Hurricane Earl’s Path to Skirt U.S.”  The headline that captured my attention read “Shocking Joint Discovery” followed by “Shocking discovery by Cambridge Researchers for…”  The article seemed appealing and I eagerly clicked the link.  Seconds later, I realized I had been duped.  Despite the washed out and faintly labeled text announcing that this was and “Advertisement” I had fallen for the bait.  Instantly, I was reminded of the Pepsigate problem.  I had been fooled into thinking that I was about to read some interesting science when in actuality, I was bombarded with a splashy advertisement for joint pain relief.  To compound the problem, the ad is presented as though it is a scientific discovery of the highest proportions and to the unsuspecting reader, it appears to bear the same scientific legitimacy as the other articles on the National Geographic website.  To say the least, it disappoints me that the respected journal would allow such ads to appear on their website.  To state the obvious, the Pepsigate deserters were right to be up in arms.