Top 10 April Fools hoaxes...

MrNightly

NEW YORK (AFP) - From television revealing that spaghetti grows on trees to advertisements for the left-handed burger, the tradition of April Fool's Day stories in the media has a weird and wonderful history.

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 astronomical 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.

ben62670

MrNightly wrote:

-- Noted British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on the radio in 1976 that at 9:47 am, a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical 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.

I bet those same people can hear a difference in speaker wires, and IC's:D

Disc Jockey

beats the ole salt in the sugar bowl trick

Mazeroth

ben62670 wrote:

I bet those same people can hear a difference in speaker wires, and IC's:D

:eek:

exalted512

When I lived in Corpus Christi, the local rock station would pull practical jokes all the time.

One year, they had been advertising for about a month for a new topless breakfast place. The day it was supposed to open was april fools day. It was the two radio DJs in skirts and no shirt in a tent where the location supposedly was.

The year after, they had got a new boss and wanted to change a bunch of things. The morning radio DJs got fed up and the next day (april fools) there was nothing but silence on the station. They got calls from a lot of major companies that advertised on the station threatening to pull their advertising if they didnt put those 2 radio DJs back on and give them what they want...Talk about job security...
-Cody

DarqueKnight

I'm switching to Thiel speakers and will be putting All my SDA's up for sale the first of next week. No dissatisfaction involved, just want to try something new.

BottomFeeder

DarqueKnight wrote:

I'm switching to Thiel speakers and will be putting All my SDA's up for sale the first of next week. No dissatisfaction involved, just want to try something new.

If you don't mind my asking, what have you got?

& Will you consider shipping?

P.S. Just so I'm not officially hijacking...love those April Fools pranks!!!

DarqueKnight

SRS, SRS 1.2TL, and three pairs of CRS+'s, all with modified crossovers, upgraded grille cloth, upgraded silk dome tweeters, heavy duty Cardas and Vampire binding posts, and custom 12 gauge SDA interconnect cables. Two pairs of the CRS+'s had the original finish replaced with teak veneer.

Shipping to locations in the continental US will be included in the asking prices.

ledhed

DarqueKnight wrote:

SRS, SRS 1.2TL, and three pairs of CRS+'s, all with modified crossovers, upgraded grille cloth, upgraded silk dome tweeters, heavy duty Cardas and Vampire binding posts, and custom 12 gauge SDA interconnect cables. Two pairs of the CRS+'s had the original finish replaced with teak veneer.

Shipping to locations in the continental US will be included in the asking prices.

Hmmm.... How about $150 for the 1.2 TLs?

DarqueKnight

Thanks for the offer, but I have already received ten offers for the 1.2TL's, three of which were from outside of the US (Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Japan) and all of which were in excess of $3500.

bobman1235

I love a good April Fools joke, but I hate how lame some "pranks" are, especially on the web. Every blog-style website just posts fake stories all day, and it's not even remotely funny - what makes April Fools funny is if you FOOL someone.

Gaara

Audio Asylum is apperently being sold to Bose, guess I will have to wait for the day to be over to look up anything on the forum.

http://www.audioasylum.com/index.html

Toxis

ben62670 wrote:

I bet those same people can hear a difference in speaker wires, and IC's:D

then again, all speakers sound the exact same as do amps, preamps and source units. It's true! CD's sound no different than vinyl or vice versa.