The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
why aren't all 11 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 0 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
Tom Rinks: Taco Bell's first three Chihuahua commercials copied his submitted storyboards
“They tested that ad in the northeast, which has happened to be where I was in Michigan, and I just lost it, you know, because it was the commercial that I'd written. You know, the first three commercials were our commercials, like we had storyboarded and share…”
Tom Rinks: Taco Bell collaborated with creators for 18 months before ghosting
“And we worked with them for 18 months. We were on the calendar of when it was going to happen. They were planning on testing it.”
Tom Rinks: Taco Bell offered no settlement money during five-year litigation
“They didn't offer us one dime.”
Tom Rinks: Richard Branson made Sun Bum the exclusive sunscreen on Necker Island
“Richard Branson and Joan. The end of the first year, they saw it and bought it for, to be their exclusive sunscreen on Necker Island.”
Rinks: Art Van staff broadcast fake pickup calls to create buyer frenzy
“We'd say, you know, customer pickup for Johnson, door three, customer pickup for Smith, door five, just to get a frenzy going with nobody picking up anything, just to...”
Tom Rinks: Psycho Chihuahua shirt sales collapsed after Taco Bell ad campaign
“So even our shirts stopped selling because everybody wanted the Taco Bell Chihuahua shirts. You know, we were just a knockoff. So sales of that dropped off.”
Tom Rinks: Taco Bell offered multi-million dollar settlement right before federal trial
“The first time they offered us something was at the trial. It was just before it started. They had lots of lawyers on their side. We had our little three lawyers on our side, and the judge came out, everybody rose, the jury was in, and they went up and said th…”
Tom Rinks: Taco Bell appealed the $42 million verdict before settling
“No, no, they appealed right away. And then and then a few months later, they settled.”
Tom Rinks: The 2009 sun care market lacked authentic, non-corporate brands
“I looked at the industry, I looked at what was happening in the space, and I saw Just a gigantic hole that you could drive through. Playtex had just bought Hawaiian Tropic a couple years earlier, so it was just all these big players. There was no authentic sun…”