We received 147 entries correctly identifying the January Fake Ad for the Hip Hop Sock Hop on page 84 of the January issue.
That number of entries reminds us of just how often the number “47” comes up when people are choosing a seemingly random number between one and one hundred. It seems to be a far more common response than you might expect, and it pops up quite frequently in popular culture. Pomona College has been looking at the 47 phenomenon for years, and there’s a website, 47.net, that tracks the occurrence of 47 and reports sightings wherever they occur.
So let’s do a little crowdsourcing of our own. In future entries, in addition to naming the Fake Ad and the page number where it appears, go ahead and include any striking occurrences of 47 you’ve noticed in your personal life. We may even report on them someday.
In the meantime, David Karl was chosen as our winner. He’s taking his gift certificate to Afternoon Delight.
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To enter this month’s contest, find the fake ad in the February issue and follow the instructions in the box at the bottom of the Back Page. The fake ad always contains the name of last month’s winner in some form.
