Group Response to Fox's Moon Conspiracy

I’ve participated on the threads about the claims made by Fox’s ridiculous show about the Apollo missions to the moon being a hoax. It just reaired and I had the opportunity to see it.

I see only one appropriate response.

We need to list the ads played during both showings of the show, and write each company that advertised a product, complaining about their sponsoring of such laughably bad science, selective editing, and general promotion of ignorance.

To Fox, we must announce that we’ll not watch any of the programs they advertised.

This should be a physical letter campaign. It should be organized. Who’s interested?

Sign me up. Anybody have a videotape of the show?

I taped it, for a purpose just such as this. I’m already planning a letter to my local Fox station. I’m all for a letter to the network as well (not sure about the sponsors), but I’d like to read it before I put my name to it.

Unfortunately, I fear that Fox will most likely interpret “number of letters received that refer to the Moon Hoax show” as “Moon Hoax show ratings points.”

Doesn’t Fox thrive on controversial shows?

Seems to be working.

While controversial shows are great, there really is no controversy over the moon hoax show. It’s just plain stupidity.

What needs to be done is a show debunking the moon hoax show to be aired on a special “conspiracy night” in which they play:

08:00 - Moon Hoax Show
09:00 - Debunking of Moon Hoax Show
10:00 - Moon Hoax Show again (so you can see everything mentioned in the debunking show)

Any film Dopers wanna take a crack at it?

Some Content for the debunking show:

  1. Demonstration of shadows on uneven ground.
  2. Demonstration of black line disappearing apparently behind bright white object.
  3. Demonstration of pictures taken from places miles apart with the same background mountains.

Yeah, the reason for a letter to the sponsors is so that Fox is clear on the fact that the ratings are negative. Statements to the effect that, “I watched the show, noted who advertised, and will be avoiding their products” might get Fox’s attention. A letter to each sponsor, “I noticed your ad was placed in a deceptive and irresponsible program, and will be avoiding thus and such product” etc. will get the sponsors’ attention.

A friend at work will get me a tape of the first showing. Robot Arm, is your tape of the second showing?

I’d like to participate, but I’d feel better if I’ve actually seen the show. Anyone wanna loan me a copy of the tape?

Oh, my yes, I think the sponsors. This is all (for Fox) about money.

I mean, I’m not alway entirely comfortable with any group using economic power (not that we could muster much) to oppose speech they don’t like (no matter how valid their reasons) but we’re not talking about a boycott, just reminding the people who paid for the show that there are people (know in America as consumers) who are not thrilled about bias shows that distort science.

Hell, I’d like to see this idea extended to the Discovery Channel and the Learning Channel, who purport to be about science and education and put on some of the most credulous, sensational bullshit known to man.

Funny you’d ask. A producer approached me asking if I’d like to help him debunk the Fox program. I haven’t heard back from him yet. See http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.html for this doper’s response to that flaming hour of feces. I plan on a series of webpages later this summer taking on all (and I do mean all) of the hoax believer’s arguments.

This reminds me of the filmmakers that did a thorough trouncing of Fox’s Alien Autopsy a couple years ago. They filmed their own “alien autopsy”, with special effects technology that they freely explained to the viewers, and the result looke even more convincing than the Fox presentation!