Listerine, the brightly colored product sold as the cure for bad breath, actually started out as a surgical antiseptic for dentists and oral surgeons. That being a small market, they sold a watered-down version as a floor cleaner and also a cure for the clap. None of these were exceptionally profitable markets so a group of clever advertisers, as pointed out in the book Freakonomics, essentially created a fear of halitosis, a condition that had previously been ignored and unnamed. It worked, and now everyone has a bottle of Listerine, even though the company has historically exaggerated the claims as to what it actually does. The AC Schnitzer digital shift knob does exactly what it says it does, which is something we think we don't need, as Doctor Peligroso points out in our COTD.

After you shift into the gear, you can look to see what gear you are in? Isn't that a little redundant?

NO, otherwise you might have badshiftotosis!

[VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images]

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