[swerling]

  >  'For fun, I placed a second large message
  >  halfway through the newspaper: "Stop
  >  counting. Tell the experimenter you have
  >  seen this and win £250." Again, the unlucky
  >  people missed the opportunity because they
  >  were still too busy...

Uh huh. Was this 'study' financed to the tune of thousands of pounds? Or were the offers rescinded from all those light-hearted, open-minded, happy, lucky people who are good and deserving in every way, especially when compared to bad, sick-hearted unlucky people who probably molest their pets and deserve to be poor because they're actually inferior in deep spiritual ways when you think about it, especially when you think about the matter 'scientifically', with like, stats and everything?

Or, was the offer of £250 not actually ever made?

The article reaks of a kind of manufacturable 'luck' that it nevertheless did not mention.