The Spaghetti Harvest: In 1957, a British news show announced that, thanks to a very warm winter Swiss farmers were enjoying a large spaghetti crop season.
Foolery! In 1957, the respected BBC television program ran this famous hoax.
Crustless Bread: For those who just can’t stand the taste of crust and are too lazy to cut it off, Sara Lee introduced the ultimate convenience: crustless bread. Available in stores everywhere!
Fact. This actually was a new product by Sara Lee in 2002.
The Pepsi-Cola company sponsored teenagers to tattoo themselves with its logo. In return, the teenagers received a 10 percent lifetime discount on the company’s products. Teenagers were said to have enthusiastically responded.
Foolery! This hoax report was made by “All Things Considered” on National Public Radio in 1994.
Chicken Manure-Powered Electrical Plant: The Mitsubishi Bank contacted people about an exciting new investment opportunity: Fibropower, a 14-megawatt-generating plant powered entirely by chicken poop.
Fact. In 1991, Mitsubishi Bank in London sought investors to back a 22-million-pound loan to fund Fibropower.
Prehistoric Penguin Murals: In 1991, prehistoric murals were discovered on the walls of an underwater cave in eastern France. The murals revealed that penguins and man once lived side by side in that region.
Fact. The penguin murals were found in 1991 by deep-sea divers exploring a cave 7.5 miles southeast of Marseilles.
A Whopper of a Whopper: Burger King published a full-page advertisement ina newspaper announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu: a “Left-Handed Whopper” specially designed for the 32 million lefthanded Americans.
Foolery! This joke was perpetrated in 1998 by Jim Watkins, senior vice president for marketing at Burger King.
Vodka Bars: A Russian beverage company announced a new product designed to appeal to Russian tastes: vodka bars. The vodka bars will be available in lemon, coconut, and salted cucumber flavors.
Foolery!
Karate Experts Collect Bus Fares: with a growing number of passengers who didn't pay for their ticket, one town in Ukraine adopted a unique solution: Karate-trained fare collectors.
Fact. This strategy was implemented in 1993 by a city in western Ukraine, following a number of attacks on bus inspectors.
Whistling Carrots: Tired of overcooking the carrots? Now there’s a solution. Scientists announced the development of a genetically modified “whistling carrot.” Air holes inside the carrot cause it to whistle when properly cooked.
Foolery! It was advertised by Tesco, a British supermarket chain, in a half-page advertisement in The Sun in 2002.
Carrots Reclassified as a Fruit: In 1979, officials in the European Union confirmed what many have long suspected: that carrots are not, in fact, a vegetable but are actually a fruit.
Fact. Bureaucrats in the European Union did classify carrots as a fruit in a 1979 directive.
Purple Carrots: A British supermarket announced it would soon be selling purple carrots to appeal to children.
Fact. In 2002, Sainsbury began marketing purple carrots. But carrots have actually come in purple varieties for thousands of years.
A British newspaper announced a new invention: the Poweriser. Essentially, it is an invention that allows you to jump forward 17 feet.
Fact. The article appeared in The Independent in 2006. You can now purchase a Poweriser for yourself, new from around $200 to $400.
In Ireland, a cat made it into the local newspapers when she decided the best place to give birth to her four baby kittens would be in a bird’s nest.
Fact. In Louth County, Ireland the cat and her kittens were found in the nest by the owner of a local pet supply store.
A man dressed as a tree decided to stand in the middle of a busy intersection in Portland, Maine, as an act of performance art. Local police asked the man to leave the intersection, but he was eventually arrested.
Fact. CNN reported the man was arrested with a misdemeanor charge.
A gentleman bought two puppies from a man who said they were good watchdogs. After seeing a wildlife exhibition two years later, the man discovered that his dogs were really endangered black bears.
Fact. The bears were taken to live safely in a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center after the man contacted the authorities.
