I’ll be curious to see how these ads do.  It would be great if we had some pre-test/ post-test data regarding soda sales or consumption in key groups (diabetics, kids, etc.) to see whether the ads have the desired effect.  My understanding is that really rigorous data collection rarely takes place with public health campaigns of this sort, though.  Sigh.

Many of you have heard me tell Scott stories. Scott is the craziest and most articulate person I know, full of life and energy, a real pleasure to have as a colleague and friend. Scott has conducted research in deception, including counter intelligence and other applied work, and has strong opinions on many topics, including the inefficiency of current lie detection methods and the pointless nature of torture (three cheers for evidence based opinions!). I had been planning to interview Scott about his research, and to post the audio here, but last Thursday, his dazzling light was extinguished in a fatal motorcycle accident involving a truck.

While Scott was an expert in deception, his work was far reaching and included work in persuasion and cryptography among other topics, and he even gave lectures with his partner (an expert in eating disorders) about the parallels between totalist organizations (e.g. cults, terrorist organizations) and eating disorders (in the ways they take over your mind and control your life).

Scott was passionate about making things better for people at all levels, from the small daily puns and compliments he paid his colleagues to the zeal and fervor he brought to our research, and the energy devoted to combating human rights abuses.

A partial list of Scott’s publications from his time at RAND can be found here:

http://rand.org/pubs/authors/g/gerwehr_scott.html

Check out this website, spoofing the cosmetic industry’s “no animal testing” logo.

As funding becomes ever more politicized and as we seek to reach a wider, more interdisciplinary audience, the words and symbols we choose to represent ourselves and our science become of greater and greater importance.