Disney's 'Email Tracking' Giveaway
(Thanks to: Michele Coombe, Tomi Emmerick, Todd Greco, Jimmy Hall, Kerry Hargraves, Michael Hochman, Sharon McKenna, Jeanie Quesenberry, George H. Scheetz, Vegas666, and many others)
Posted: 08/24/98
It's back! The myth of "email tracking" has returned, this time in a chain letter purporting to originate from "Walt Disney Jr. & Management at Disney World" (see text below).
According to the message, the first 13,000 people to forward it to everyone they know will win cash prizes or free trips to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Disney management is allegedly extending this beneficence for the purpose of testing a brand-new piece of software invented by Microsoft.
Not that I want to spoil anyone's dreams of riches, but Walt Disney never had a son named Walt. As a matter of fact, he never had a son. I suppose he might have named one of his daughters after himself, but that seems ... doubtful, not to mention cruel.
Microsoft has not invented an email tracking program, nor, in the real world, would the Disney Company give away millions of dollars to help Bill Gates beta-test such a thing.
The text of the message consists of little more than a lazy reworking of the infamous Bill Gates $1,000 giveaway chain letter that's been pinging around the Internet since November '97.
Need I say it? What you're about to read is a hoax. The Walt Disney Company denies having anything to do with it. Welcome to Fantasy Land...
FW: Let's do Disney!
Disney message & $5,000.00
If you read below you will see the note from Walt
Disney Jr. & Management at Disney World.
Basically if this messages reaches 13,000 people,
everyone will receive $5,000.00 or a free, all expenses paid, trip to
Disney World in anytime during the summer of 1999.
See the note below - its worth it!!!!
Everyone is to resend to 15 individuals.
Please read and forward to as many friends as
possible...we've checked up on
this and this is no joke of a chain letter or something
if this reaches 13,000 people...duplicate entries don't
count, though...So, please help & pass on...
thank you, and here you go!!!
WALT DISNEY JR.
Note: Duplicate entries will not be counted. You will
be notified by email with further instructions once this email
has reached 13,000 people.
Your friends,
Update: Media Sightings
Current Net Hoaxes
GREETING
Hello Disney fans,
And thank you for signing up for Bill Gates' Beta
Email Tracking
My name is Walt Disney Jr.
Here at Disney we are working with Microsoft which has just
compiled an e-mail tracing program that tracks everyone
to whom this message is forwarded to. It does this
through an unique IP (Internet Protocol) address log book database.
We are experimenting with this and need your help. Forward this to
everyone you know and if it reaches 13,000 people, 1,300 of the
people on the list will receive $5,000, and the rest will receive a
free trip for two to Disney World for one week during the summer of
1999 at our expense.
Enjoy.
Walt Disney Jr., Disney, Bill Gates, & The Microsoft
Development Team.
See also:
For comparison, here's where it all started
Brief history of a Net myth with examples and commentary
Pointers to more Disney-related legends on the Net
More Legends & Netlore
