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Every year on April 1 the media is flooded with ridiculous stories of how others tried to make fools out of everybody else. Here are some of the craziest stories and wildest hoaxes ever:
In 1957 BBC Panorama announced the Swiss had an abundant spaghetti harvest due to the mild winter climate and the absence of the Spaghetti weevil. Their story was even accompanied by footage of Swiss peasants picking spaghetti strands from trees. Loads of people phoned in and asked how they should go about planting their own spaghetti trees. The reply dryly came, “Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."
On April Fool’s Day In 1962 Sweden had only one TV channel and it broadcast in black and white. That evening on the news the station's technical expert, Kjell Stensson, announced all users can now quickly and easily change over to colour broadcast. All they had to do to see their favourite shows in colour was pull a nylon stocking over their TV screen. Apparently the majority of viewers fell for it but unfortunately for them Sweden only started broadcasting in colour on April 1, 1970.
In 1977 the British tabloid The Guardian published a seven page supplement to celebrate the 10th anniversary of a small republic called San Serriffe. The republic was reportedly situated somewhere in the Indian ocean and consisted of several semi-colon shaped islands. The two main islands were apparently named Upper Case and Lower Case and General Pica who resided in the capital, Bedoni, ruled the republic. Thousands of readers phoned in to learn more about what sounded like the perfect holiday spot. Few noticed everything was named after printer’s terminology.
In 1979 London's Capital Radio announced the government decided to resynchronise the British calendar with the rest of the world. Ever since 1945 Britain had gradually become 48 hours ahead of all other countries because of the constant switching back and forth from British Summer Time, they explained. To remedy this situation, the British government had decided to cancel April 5 and 12 that year. Listeners were upset, asking what will happen to their birthdays and whether employees should still be paid for those days.
In 1980 the BBC reported that Big Ben, in order to keep up with the times, was going to be given a digital readout.
"’I didn't do anything wrong, and I won't do it again,’ is the campaign slogan Richard Nixon is using in his run for president.” National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation programme announced in 1992. They claimed Nixon in a surprise move decided to run for president again. Listeners flooded the show with calls expressing shock and outrage only to be told it was a hoax.
In 1993 Cologne, Germany a radio station, Westdeutsche Rundfunk, announced a new speed limit has been introduced for joggers. People who went jogging in the city park were not allowed to run faster than 10 km per hour. The new regulation was introduced so the squirrels won’t be disturbed while in the middle of their mating season.
A Russian beverage company announced the introduction of new delicious chewable vodka bars. The vodka bars were said to be available in coconut, lemon and salted cucumber flavours. The company expressed their hope that it would eventually be more popular than Mars and Snicker bars.
In 1999 the Phoenix New Times ran a story announcing the formation of a new charity to benefit the homeless. But this charity was different, instead of giving them clothing or food, they would provide the homeless with guns and ammunition. ‘The Arm the Homeless Coalition’ received extensive coverage from Sixty Minutes and Associated Press, before the media realised they have been fooled.
In 2001 Ruda Landman of Carte Blanche did a full reportage on the destruction of all Jacaranda trees in Pretoria (Jacarandas are aliens), creating a massive uproar around the country, especially and understandably in Jacarandastad. In 2002 Tesco, a British supermarket chain published an advertisement in The Sun announcing a new genetically engineered ‘whistling carrot’, which is impossible to overcook. The carrot is designed with strategically placed air holes, which start to whistle when the carrot is properly cooked.
In 2002, Sara Lee introduced every child’s dream: crustless bread. It is made especially for those people who can’t stand the crusts or who are too lazy to cut them off. The new bread was announced to be in stores everywhere.
Engineers announced the world’s first tooth telephone. It was marketed as a hands free set. The tiny device is implanted into a tooth and vibrates to let you know there's a call. When you speak the microphone picks up your voice. Incoming voices are transferred to the inner ear by means of bone resonance.
In 1979 the European Union announced a mistake was made and carrots are actually not a vegetable but a fruit. They said carrots should be reclassified as soon as possible.
In another unrelated carrot story, a British supermarket announced the arrival of new fresh purple carrots. The carrots were made especially for children who have become bored with the normal orange carrots.
In 1991 Mitsubishi Bank offered investors the opportunity to invest in a new electrical power plant fuelled entirely by chicken poop. However, most investors felt Fibropower was a crappy idea.
This hoax took an even funnier twist years later when the SABC bought the programme to air as an educational programme here on South African TV.
What you often don’t bargain for is that these stories could be true. Here are some crazy stories that surfaced in the media on the first of April, and actually turned out to be true.
Do you have a hilarious hoax to share? Send it on in to chatback@w24.co.za and we'll put it up on w24.co.za.
