Fake Birthday Boy Got Drafted

In 1977, two American brothers signed up a fictitious boy for an ice cream chain’s birthday club so they could get extra free sundaes. The fake name stayed on the chain’s mailing list like a real customer record. In 1984, the family received a Selective Service reminder instructing the fictitious boy to register for the draft. The mistake exposed that the government had obtained names from the chain’s mailing list through a broker, even as later the chain claimed it had not permitted that use.

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