Selling it.(misleading or funny ads, labels)(Column)

Fax facts.

The questions come via fax, and are clearly designed to attract attention. Among them:

* "Should gun law be seriously tightened?"

* "Jerry Springer--Is he the king of chat or a wind-up freak?"

* "Should public executions be televised?"

You're invited to fax back an answer, but beware: The fax-back number is a 900 number, and as a little note reveals, each answer will cost about $3 to $6. The faxes deem that sum "a small price for greater democracy."

The sender, 21st Century Faxes Ltd., is a British company. It claims to provide poll results to appropriate public-policy makers, but sending such folk your own e-mail, fax, or postcard will cost far less and will likely be more effective. For one thing, this poll is far from scientific. For another, the company seems to have trouble spelling the names of some of those movers and shakers to whom it sends results. Answers to the question "Should ...