Filed under: Dr. Boyce Money, News
The airwaves were buzzing after the couple was allegedly cheated out of the right answer on the Fox Show. The question was "Which of these was sold in stores first: the Macintosh Computer, the Sony Walkman or Post-it Notes?" The couple argued for quite a while over which answer was correct. Brittany wanted to put her money on the Walkman, but Gabe was adamant that the Post-it note was the correct answer. So, out of the $880,000 the couple had left, $800,000 was put on the Post-It, while the remaining $80,000 was put on the Walkman. In other words, they were saying that they believed the Post-It Note came out first.
Gabe was convincing. He not only knew that the Post-It Note was the right answer, he knew the history of how it was invented. He mentioned that the product was invented by accident, and that it was the reason for the existence of the 3M Corporation. Brittany fought him tooth and nail, and you could feel the couple's stress coming through the TV set.
Eventually, after Gabe's pleading, Brittany put most of the money into the bin supporting Gabe's response. You can imagine the couple's dismay as they watched $800,000 disappear right before their very eyes. To most casual observers, it appeared that they were wrong.
It turns out that Gabe is a pretty smart guy. He went home and googled the answer, finding significant evidence claiming that he was actually correct. It turns out that Post-It Notes were market tested in four cities in 1977, beating out the Walkman by two years. The official Facebook page for Post-It Notes also says that the product was released in 1977. Also, inventor Art Fry mentions 1977 as the launch date of Post-It Notes during an interview with the Financial Times.
Jeff Apploff, executive producer for the show, released a statement saying, "The integrity of the questions and answers on our show are our No. 1 priority. In this case, our research team spoke directly with 3M, and they confirmed that although they had given out free samples in test markets in 1977 and 1978, it wasn't until 1980 that Post-Its were officially sold in stores."
It is still not clear if the couple will be invited back onto the show, and while 3M may have given the show's producers one answer, the jury is still out on whether or not the couple got cheated. If you want my opinion, the question is incredibly misleading and unfair. If the product was test marketed in four cities in 1977, that means that it was sold in stores. If there was one customer in one store who bought one Post-It Note in 1977, then this couple has grounds for a lawsuit.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the author of the bookBlack American Money To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.