He's hardly alone -- lots of figures from history and pop culture are the product of either some marketing campaign or just bad record keeping. Either way, centuries from now, people will probably still think that at one time there was a person named ...

Have you ever heard a speaker or boss quote some profound saying from Sun Tzu's The Art of War? Did you know there's a good chance that the wise philosopher who wrote that book never actually existed ?

5 Betty Crocker

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Why She's Famous

When you buy Betty Crocker cake mix, or one of the dozens of other products bearing that name, you obviously don't assume that the company is still run by her, any more than Wendy's is still owned by Wendy. But it's logical to assume that, way back when the company got started, there was some actual lady named Betty Crocker just selling her cookies or whatever, in the same way that at one time Ferrari was just Enzo Ferrari making cars in his garage.

And in fact, Betty Crocker first became famous in the 1920s when she started personally responding to customer questions for the Washburn Crosby Company (which later became General Mills). Her popularity grew so much that in 1924 she got her own radio show and cooking school, and by 1945, she was the second best known woman in America, after the first lady. She also loved sitting for portraits, apparently:

Via Bettycrocker.com

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"You're allowed one outfit. Make it a good one."

But It Turns Out ...

Betty Crocker is a crock of shit. It's not that she no longer exists, as some of you may assume -- it's that she never did. The name was created in 1921 to "personalize responses to consumer inquiries," and her famous signature was chosen from samples submitted by female employees. She was invented by Sam Gale, Washburn Crosby's advertising director, because he didn't think women would take cooking advice from a man.

Via YouTube

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"Betty Crocker cake mix: vagina certified!"