Myth: “Little Mikey” died after swallowing several envelopes of Pop Rocks and washing them down with soda. His stomach exploded.

Truth: “Little Mikey” was a character played by child actor John Gilchrist who, in 1971 at the age of three, appeared in a television commercial for Quaker Life Cereal. In the commercial, which was repeated, mostly during children’;s programming, throughout the 1970s, Little Mikey was a “food tester” for his two older siblings who were skeptical about trying the product.

Pop Rocks were introduced to the market in 1974 and were an instant success for General Foods. A truly “fun” candy, they released trapped gas in the wet environment of the mouth, thereby creating a tingling sensation. They had the same effervescent quality as Fizzies or Alka-Seltzer except that they were made to be eaten as is, not diluted in water.

How Little Mikey, of all people, became connected with Pop Rocks, and why anybody would think they could be lethal, is one of the oldest mysteries in consumer public relations. It drove General Foods nuts when it struck. In 1979, the assailed manufacturer bought full-page ads in several newspapers in which the candy’;s inventor, William A. Mitchell, extolled its safety without once mentioning Little Mikey. The product was discontinued in 1983 but quietly reappeared in 1985 as Action Candy after Kraft Foods bought the manufacturer.

At last report, John Gilchrist was doing very well, thank you, as an advertising executive for CBS. So is Quaker Life, which in the late 1990s retooled their classic commercial to star, and to appeal to, 20-somethings.

Seagull Sense

Myth: Feeding Alka-Seltzer to sea gulls makes them explode.

Truth: Sea gulls may be scavengers, but they can certainly tell the difference between food and an over-the-counter remedy. This is a corollary to not throwing rice at weddings because the birds eat it, it expands in their stomachs, and they explode. People have also tried this on pigeons using Minute Rice, figuring it would cut the detonation time, but even pigeons are no fools. Somebody suggested throwing birdseed at weddings, but, hello, it’;s seeds, and who wants salad niçoise sprouting on the lawn?