It is, and always has been, easy to make a buck by taking advantage of people’s beliefs.  This is something the Simpsons was long fond of mocking, from low grade hucksterism like Princess Opal to high grade hucksterism like organized Christianity.  The video below is a real world application of that same principal.

This is a talk given by a guy named Michael Shermer at the TED conference in 2006.  He gives a little explanation of skeptical thinking and then has some fun with stupid things that people believe, like seeing faces on Mars and hearing Satanic verses in Led Zepplin’s “Stairway to Heaven”.  Of interest to us is a water stain in Clearwater, Florida that people thought looked like the Virgin Mary.  (It was caused by the interaction of sprinklers and palm trees.)  Shermer points out that it just as easily looks like Marge.

This definitely qualifies as excellent usage.  I enjoyed the entire video, but if you’re pressed for time the part with Marge starts at about 8:20 and Our Lady of Evergreen Terrace makes her appearance at the 9:00 mark.

Found via Lalangue.