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To: Jeff Vayda who wrote (695)	8/9/1999 9:08:00 AM
From: Mark Marcellus	Respond to of 13582

Mark: recent studies have debunked the threat of brain cancer from cell phones. Jeff, I'm aware of that, but advertising has little to do with logic. If it did, most ad copy would read like newspaper editorials. Perception is the key, and there may be a perception in the public's mind that cell phones can cause brain cancer. Even worse, this perception may be fading only to be brought back to the surface by an ad campaign like this one. The only way to determine if this is a serious issue for the ad campaign is to do some focus group work, which is why I hope the ad agency has taken this step.

To: Jeff Vayda who wrote (695)	8/9/1999 10:27:00 AM
From: quidditch	Respond to of 13582

(do I recall correctly that the report which originally claimed the link was found to have falsified data?) Jeff, what I recall is that the wireless industry financed study in its final report indicated that there was a statistically significant correlation between high (over a certain threshhold) cell phone usage and certain types of brain cancer, enough so that further study was warranted. BUT, within days after the release of the report (late March or April, is my recollection), members of the group preparing the report dissented from the characterization of the conclusions and stated that significant data that, if reflected in the study, would have tended to establish no such linkage, was left out. Later, allegations were made that the head of the study was motivated by a desire to prompt additional funding from the wireless industry so as to pad his sinecure. He denied that. As I recall, other academics weighed in and tended to dismiss the purported damaging findings. There was also a recent (early July?) study that tended to disprove any link between brain cancer and living in neighborhoods close to electricity transmission towers. Best. Steven