47. Tabloid Tales
Background
There you are, in line in the supermarket. The customer at the checkout counter just real-
ized she has to pay for her groceries. She slowly gets out her checkbook and begins writ-
ing. After several minutes you notice she has finally written down the date.
Unfortunately, it’s July and she’s had trouble remembering the date change from last
year! She wrote down last year’s date and has to start over.
You sigh and begin looking around for a distraction. You glance to your left at the
magazine rack and you see it: “GIRL, 10, GIVES BIRTH TO CALF THAT LOOKS LIKE
ELVIS.” The headline sears into your brain and you shake your head as you struggle to
reassert your rationality. You read on:- WIFE MAKES SALAD DRESSING OF HUSBAND IN BLENDER
- BABY BORN WITH THREE HEADS, SIX TAILS, AND BLUE EYES
- WOMAN DIVORCES FROG—CLAIMS NO PRINCE
- BIGFOOT SPOTTED DANCING WITH ELVIS
- MAN GIVES BIRTH TO VW
- NEW DIET GROWS EXTRA TOES
- TRUCKER’S LUNG EXPLODES WHILE HE WAS SMOKING ON ROAD
- ALIENS RESPONSIBLE FOR LIGHT BULB BURNOUTS
You’ve just been victimized by tabloid headlines. But don’t fret. You can salvage
something positive from your experience by using tabloid headlines to prompt ideas.
Doug Hall (1994) developed Tabloid Tales to help people distort facts and gain new per-
spectives on their problems.Objectives
- To help participants generate as many creative ideas as possible
- To help participants learn how to use the activities to generate ideas
Participants
Small groups of four to seven people eachFree Association Activities: “Blue Skies” 207
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