In the days before Snopes, let alone the ability for a false rumor to spread quickly in the digital domain, I was involved in another such misinformed groundswell movement perpetrated on a big-branded company.

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Then there was the Net-spread rumor in August about supposed riots in Kuala Lumpur.

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At one point, a rumor spread that the food had expired and people began throwing it away.

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But a rumor spread that the woman had died, residents said.

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Next a staffer reports happily that people in the Kingdom of Tonga are apparently buying the rumor, spread by Digicel, that it will launch in October.

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Both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal are reporting that Apple is working on a watch-like device. iWatch has been in the rumor mill for a long time, but now the rumor has gained more credibility being spread by these august outlets.

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In 1987 some irresponsible unknown doctor from Bombay spread a rumor that Osho might have contracted AIDS and the tabloids of Bombay published this sensational rumor, so the young doctor got publicity which he was seeking.

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In 1982 a rumor spread that Walesa was to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and international journalists descended on his apartment in Gdansk, to be there when the Nobel was announced.

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