Katherine "Kitty" Wuerl, age 30 in 1993, was only one of as many as 60 people who in that year reported finding a syringe, needle, or some other foreign object in a can of Pepsi. Her case, however, very likely got the most press of all these copycat hoax stories.
Two factors help account for this sudden rash of hoax reports. One was the very real Sudafed tamperings of two years earlier, which had killed two people. Also, fear of needle-related cases of AIDS was very much on the public's front burner at that time.
These hoaxes cost Pepsi a great deal of money, and at least 50 people were arrested for product tampering or filing false damage claims.
Wuerl, who was working as a telemarketer for the parent company of the Milwaukee Sentinel, falsely reported finding a syringe and needle in a can of Pepsi. She later admitted that her story was a fraud, was fired and had herself committed to a mental health facility.
The Sentinel had egg on its face for running the hoax story before checking it out carefully. Shortly thereafter, this paper was again red-faced after it ran a freelance review of a Dolly Parton concert--one that had been canceled due to rain.
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