Post by w4J on Mar 31, 2007 13:25:42 GMT -5
Here are 10 of the top April Fool's Day pranks ever
pulled off, as judged by the San Diego-based Museum of
Hoaxes for their notoriety, absurdity, and number of
people duped.
-- In 1957, a BBC television show announced that
thanks to a mild winter and the virtual elimination of
the spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a
bumper spaghetti crop. Footage of Swiss farmers
pulling strands of spaghetti from trees prompted a
barrage of calls from people wanting to know how to
grow their own spaghetti at home.
-- In 1985, Sports Illustrated magazine published a
story that a rookie baseball pitcher who could
reportedly throw a ball at 270 kilometers per hour
(168 miles per hour) was set to join the New York
Mets. Finch was said to have mastered his skill --
pitching significantly faster than anyone else has
ever managed -- in a Tibetan monastery. Mets fans'
celebrations were short-lived.
-- Sweden in 1962 had only one television channel,
which broadcast in black and white. The station's
technical expert appeared on the news to announce that
thanks to a newly developed technology, viewers could
convert their existing sets to receive color pictures
by pulling a nylon stocking over the screen. In fact,
they had to wait until 1970.
-- In 1996, American fast-food chain Taco Bell
announced that it had bought Philadelphia's Liberty
Bell, a historic symbol of American independence, from
the federal government and was renaming it the Taco
Liberty Bell.
Outraged citizens called to express their anger before
Taco Bell revealed the hoax. Then-White House press
secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale and
said the Lincoln Memorial in Washington had also been
sold and was to be renamed the Ford Lincoln Mercury
Memorial after the automotive giant.
-- In 1977, British newspaper The Guardian published a
seven-page supplement for the 10th anniversary of San
Serriffe, a small republic located in the Indian Ocean
consisting of several semicolon-shaped islands. A
series of articles described the geography and culture
of the two main islands, named Upper Caisse and Lower
Caisse.
-- In 1992, US National Public Radio announced that
Richard Nixon was running for president again. His new
campaign slogan was, "I didn't do anything wrong, and
I won't do it again." They even had clips of Nixon
announcing his candidacy. Listeners flooded the show
with calls expressing their outrage. Nixon's voice
actually turned out to be that of impersonator Rich
Little.
-- In 1998, a newsletter titled New Mexicans for
Science and Reason carried an article that the state
of Alabama had voted to change the value of pi from
3.14159 to the "Biblical value" of 3.0.
-- Burger King, another American fast-food chain,
published a full-page advertisement in USA Today in
1998 announcing the introduction of the "Left-Handed
Whopper," specially designed for the 32 million
left-handed Americans. According to the advertisement,
the new burger included the same ingredients as the
original, but the condiments were rotated 180 degrees.
The chain said it received thousands of requests for
the new burger, as well as orders for the original
"right-handed" version.
-- Discover Magazine announced in 1995 that a highly
respected biologist, Aprile Pazzo (Italian for April
Fool), had discovered a new species in Antarctica: the
hotheaded naked ice borer. The creatures were
described as having bony plates on their heads that
became burning hot, allowing the animals to bore
through ice at high speed -- a technique they used to
hunt penguins.
-- Noted British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on
the radio in 1976 that at 9:47 am, a once-in-a-lifetime astro-
nomical event, in which Pluto would pass behind Jupiter,
would cause a gravitational alignment that would reduce the
Earth's gravity. Moore told listeners that if they jumped in
the air at the exact moment of the planetary alignment, they
would experience a floating sensation. Hundreds of people
called in to report feeling the sensation. ;D
pulled off, as judged by the San Diego-based Museum of
Hoaxes for their notoriety, absurdity, and number of
people duped.
-- In 1957, a BBC television show announced that
thanks to a mild winter and the virtual elimination of
the spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a
bumper spaghetti crop. Footage of Swiss farmers
pulling strands of spaghetti from trees prompted a
barrage of calls from people wanting to know how to
grow their own spaghetti at home.
-- In 1985, Sports Illustrated magazine published a
story that a rookie baseball pitcher who could
reportedly throw a ball at 270 kilometers per hour
(168 miles per hour) was set to join the New York
Mets. Finch was said to have mastered his skill --
pitching significantly faster than anyone else has
ever managed -- in a Tibetan monastery. Mets fans'
celebrations were short-lived.
-- Sweden in 1962 had only one television channel,
which broadcast in black and white. The station's
technical expert appeared on the news to announce that
thanks to a newly developed technology, viewers could
convert their existing sets to receive color pictures
by pulling a nylon stocking over the screen. In fact,
they had to wait until 1970.
-- In 1996, American fast-food chain Taco Bell
announced that it had bought Philadelphia's Liberty
Bell, a historic symbol of American independence, from
the federal government and was renaming it the Taco
Liberty Bell.
Outraged citizens called to express their anger before
Taco Bell revealed the hoax. Then-White House press
secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale and
said the Lincoln Memorial in Washington had also been
sold and was to be renamed the Ford Lincoln Mercury
Memorial after the automotive giant.
-- In 1977, British newspaper The Guardian published a
seven-page supplement for the 10th anniversary of San
Serriffe, a small republic located in the Indian Ocean
consisting of several semicolon-shaped islands. A
series of articles described the geography and culture
of the two main islands, named Upper Caisse and Lower
Caisse.
-- In 1992, US National Public Radio announced that
Richard Nixon was running for president again. His new
campaign slogan was, "I didn't do anything wrong, and
I won't do it again." They even had clips of Nixon
announcing his candidacy. Listeners flooded the show
with calls expressing their outrage. Nixon's voice
actually turned out to be that of impersonator Rich
Little.
-- In 1998, a newsletter titled New Mexicans for
Science and Reason carried an article that the state
of Alabama had voted to change the value of pi from
3.14159 to the "Biblical value" of 3.0.
-- Burger King, another American fast-food chain,
published a full-page advertisement in USA Today in
1998 announcing the introduction of the "Left-Handed
Whopper," specially designed for the 32 million
left-handed Americans. According to the advertisement,
the new burger included the same ingredients as the
original, but the condiments were rotated 180 degrees.
The chain said it received thousands of requests for
the new burger, as well as orders for the original
"right-handed" version.
-- Discover Magazine announced in 1995 that a highly
respected biologist, Aprile Pazzo (Italian for April
Fool), had discovered a new species in Antarctica: the
hotheaded naked ice borer. The creatures were
described as having bony plates on their heads that
became burning hot, allowing the animals to bore
through ice at high speed -- a technique they used to
hunt penguins.
-- Noted British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on
the radio in 1976 that at 9:47 am, a once-in-a-lifetime astro-
nomical event, in which Pluto would pass behind Jupiter,
would cause a gravitational alignment that would reduce the
Earth's gravity. Moore told listeners that if they jumped in
the air at the exact moment of the planetary alignment, they
would experience a floating sensation. Hundreds of people
called in to report feeling the sensation. ;D