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MSNBC Debunks, Then Covers, Fake ‘German Study’ On Heart-Healthy Boob Ogling

video

by Tommy Christopher | 10:59 am, March 10th, 2011

» 25 comments

Although they weren’t the first, or only, ones to fall for it, MSNBC deserves some kind of award for its coverage of a hoax study that suggested that men who stare at breasts have healthier hearts than men who don’t. Way Too Early host Willie Geist debunked the story on Tuesday, only to have dayside anchor Contessa Brewer report the udderly ridiculous story in a somewhat serious mien the following day. I guess she didn’t get the…mammo? (h/t The Blaze)

I first became aware of the story when conservative blogger RS McCain tweeted it at me out of laudable concern for my health, but I pointed out that any cardiac benefits derived from staring at breasts would be offset by the respiratory problems caused by all that mace. Understandably excited, “The Other McCain” helped to spread the news like wildfire throughout the conservative blogosphere. You can hardly blame McCain for falling for this. The prospect of healthier living through the eye-lasering of unsuspecting womenfolk carried with it the promise of near-immortality for him.

McCain got the story from Boston’s Fox affiliate, who ran the story last Friday: (In an odd, unrelated detail, Fox 25′s boobie b-roll includes a shot of a woman standing next to what appears to be a Westboro Baptist “God Hates F*gs” sign.)

It’s less understandable that Contessa Brewer gave this story any creedence, considering her own MSNBC colleague’s prior debunkage:

In order to save MSNBC countless hours of time and resources, let me be the first to tell them that Otto Titzling didn’t really invent the brassiere, and there is no such thing as a “Braille T-Shirt.”

All kidding aside, though, Brewer does express skepticism about the ability of the “researchers” to find men who could spend five years avoiding eye contact with breasts, and her “Hey, I’m up here!” gesture underscores the fact that this hoax may seem to be a good-natured poke at a male foible, but the flip side is an uncomfortable eagerness to validate the objectification of women.

Update: A reader, Magister, points out that the sign featured in the Fox 25 clip appears to be a parody, possibly from “Boobquake.” Good eye, Magister.

breasts, Breasts on Television, Contessa Brewer, German Study, Otto Titzling, RS McCain, Way Too Early, Westboro Baptist, Westboro Baptist Church, Willie Geist

tatboy

Yep… that IS a Gawd Hates F##s sign in the video piece. I don’t care if the sory is debunked or not. I (as a medical professional) advise you (Tommy) to stare at bobbies as often as possible for purly health related reasons. BTW… mace is derived from various peppers, which ALSO have shown heart benefits.
Atticus Draco

‘
hoax study that suggested that men who stare at breasts have healthier hearts than men who don’t.

HOAX HELL!
It’s been keeping me alive all these years
i sure the hell aint gonna stop staring at ‘em!!!
skyfet

What does it say about you, when you cover this crap to begin with?

How do your female colleagues feel about this?
tatboy

skyfet said:
What does it say about you, when you cover this crap to begin with? How do your female colleagues feel about this?

Hopefully they have the same sence of humar men have to have these days.
http://twitter.com/SailRabbits Magister

Not to get all nit-picky with a minor correction, but the Westboro-like sign appears to say “God Hates Boobs” with some kind of placeholders for the double-os.

And, I literally just retweeted a Simon Owens link to a Reddit forum, where a young lady spotted her cleavage in the FoxBoston report. After a couple of inquiries from other commenters, she confirmed the photo was taken at a “Boobquake” event which sought to disprove an Iranian cleric’s claim that immodestly dressed women caused earthquakes and had some funny signs.

Otherwise, good post. Though I hope you’ll understand, if I ignore the debunking.
Atticus Draco

‘
There could be a proven valid study that says gawking and boobies knocks ten years off a man’s life,, I’d still be staring at ‘em!!
Life aint worth livin’ without titties!
Fk THAT!
Dem4Ever

The author sure seems to be getting pleasure from his scribblings on the subject.
http://www.swissarmyjew.com Keeva

Am I the only one that thinks the screen capture of the cleavage close up with the “Lean Forward” motto over it is freaking hilarious?

Magister said:
And, I literally just retweeted a Simon Owens link to a Reddit forum, where a young lady spotted her cleavage in the FoxBoston report. After a couple of inquiries from other commenters, she confirmed the photo was taken at a “Boobquake” event which sought to disprove an Iranian cleric’s claim that immodestly dressed women caused earthquakes and had some funny signs.

That would be Jen McCreight. Apparently the use of her cleavage in the Fox b-roll is responsible for the continuing series of earthquakes. ;)
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/glenn-beck-explains-how-the-unions-are-using-teachers-firefighters-and-co ImNotBlue

skyfet said:
What does it say about you, when you cover this crap to begin with? How do your female colleagues feel about this?

So it’s not MSNBC’s fault for getting duped… it’s Mediaite’s fault for writing about MSNBC getting duped?

Wow.
writer

So David Hasselhoff isn’t the only boob they like.
http://www.swissarmyjew.com Keeva

Actually, everybody got taken by this one since it offered an opportunity for lots of cleavage photos.

As I say to my advertising clients: Give me a photo of a great pair of boobs, a baby or a puppy and I can sell almost anything. Give me a woman with a nice cleavage holding a baby while petting a puppy and I can sell everything. ha-ha!
http://twitter.com/SailRabbits Magister

@Keeva: I’m sure I’ll be judged harshly and this isn’t particularly on-topic, but after reading through and retweeting the Reddit forum, I ran a search over one of my old blogs to find the addy for a hot or not style site, where folks would upload phonecam pics of street cleavage. Unfortunately, it looks like the site owners quit monitoring in ’05 and now it’s NSFW.
http://www.swissarmyjew.com Keeva

Magister – I remember that site. It went NSFW? Bummer.
http://twitter.com/SailRabbits Magister

OK – Way off-topic, but speaking of advertising…

@Keeva: On that particular blog, I ran a regular Friday night feature listing and embedding provocative ads and sites similar to the street cleavage thing because it’d get me a ton of traffic from military bases in Iraq and elsewhere. My guess was that the Pentagon’s firewall didn’t exclude my blog and most of the random sites because they weren’t exactly pornographic, but yeah, I actually have a lot of links.
nutsofast

I love to come here and laugh at republican (TB) boobs.
UpChuck.Liberals

Of course this may also explain why the true believers of the ProFat MooHamMad are so up friggin’ tight. No boobs to stare at. Ladies, if if you’ve got them flaunt them, we give you permission.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joseph-Glackin/100000892011713 Joseph Glackin

Tommy-boy, what’s the prob-Bob? One show figures it”s a scam. Another reports it, (and I saw the report, Contessa was laughing her tata’s off as she ran it). With all that’s going on, what’s wrong with a piece that breaks the tension. Lost your sense of humor somewhere?
http://twitter.com/SailRabbits Magister

I promise that I’ll shutup, but since I was mining an old blog, the post and a few of the comments reminded me of an editorial that appeared in the Washington State University’s newspaper back in ’06.

In the piece, the author goes down a somewhat convoluted road about the objectification of women from the jumping off point of one her male friends saying that he prefers warmer weather because girls wear less clothes.

BTW: Because the author mentions an anti-dowry campaign from India, here’s a link to the signs. Please aware that even though the placards are pure text, the language may not be safe for work.
jrcmi

When I saw all the gratuitous “T” pics here, I thought I’d been forwarded to the Fakesnews.com site.

Not that I have anything against gratuitous T pics, to be honest.

“Otto Titzling”? “Udderly ridiculous”? “Funbags”? Tsk-tsk-tsk! Tommy, Tommy, Tommy. . . .

(Okay, “funbags” was mine. I’ll go stand in a corner, now.)
DEFENDER-90

I like Me some Patti Ann Browne.AKA the Milk Maiden.
http://cbcf.groupsite.com Miss Capri

What sort of sleezy hormonal idiots come up with these stupid hoaxes and how in the world can anyone with as much as a single brain cell actually believe this crap? At least I can laugh at NBC’s stupidity, though Fox has no excuse, neither do any conservatives who fell for this sexually exploitive hoax.
JJ Vachon

I’ve been ogling breasts for decades. I am now 50 and in perfect health. Perhaps there IS a correlation!
liuliu107

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X-3

skyfet said:
What does it say about you, when you cover this crap to begin with? How do your female colleagues feel about this?

Thanks for chiming in “A” cup. While I’ve always been a leg man, I find well-formed small breast to be nice, too.
X-3

Miss Capri said:
What sort of sleezy hormonal idiots come up with these stupid hoaxes and how in the world can anyone with as much as a single brain cell actually believe this crap? At least I can laugh at NBC’s stupidity, though Fox has no excuse, neither do any conservatives who fell for this sexually exploitive hoax.

Another flat chested poster chimes in.