The Viewing Public is Gullible - Fact

Over the years television has produced some great April Fools, but not all of them were well received:

Money may not grow on trees, but pasta does

Back in 1957 the BBC's highly respected and respectable Panorama reported that, due to a very mild winter and the virtual eradication of the dreaded weevil, farmers in Switzerland were benefitting from a bumper crop of spaghetti. Viewers were treated to pictures of Swiss peasants plucking strands of pasta from the branches of spaghetti trees.

As unlikely as it seems, large numbers of viewers were so taken in they called in asking how they could grow their own spaghetti. The BBC tactfully told them to "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best". (Fools! Everyone knows pasta comes from Italy not Switzerland.)

I smell a rat

In 1965 a London University professor announced on BBC TV that he had developed a technology that allowed viewers to smell aromas produced in the TV studios. He called it, Smell-o-vision. (Honestly, you'd think someone would have tumbled!). He demonstrated his invention using coffee beans and then onions. He told viewers, for the best results, they should stand six feet away from their screen and sniff, and asked them to report whether they'd smelt anything.

Not only did people call in to say they had indeed smelt something, some even claimed that the smell of onions had made their eyes water! (Unbelievable!)

Time for a change?

Even the Deputy Premier, Des Corcoran got in on the act in 1975 when This Day Tonight got everyone going with the announcement that Australia would soon be converting to Metric Time. In this new system, days would be reduced to 20 hours, but minutes per hour would increase to 100. Minutes would then be called Centidays and seconds known as Millidays.

Many fell for the hoax with one viewer even calling in to ask how he could convert his digital clock to Metric Time. (I'm no scientist, but I do know how long it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun!)

It's eating everything in its path!

In 1980, Boston's Channel 7 News's special bulletin caused terror to the citizens living near Mt. Milton. They announced that the 635 foot hill had erupted causing nearby homes to be engulfed by lava and ash. (Firstly, how can a hill erupt? And secondly, didn't anyone think to look out of the window? I'm pretty sure that an eruption would have caused some visible evidence - not to mention a fairly audible bang!)

It was said to be a chain reaction triggered by the recent eruption of Mount St. Helens. (Clearly no one wondered just how an eruption approximately 2,500 away should have caused such a reaction.)

Although the reporter held up a sign saying "April Fool" at the end of the bulletin, it was too late. The local authorities had already had a deluge of calls from frantic residents. The local police were still getting calls well into the night.

This was one April Fool's prank that backfired. The only lava stream that swept the area was one of hysteria. The station apologized for the panic they had caused and the executive producer responsible was fired. (You'd think they'd be relieved that it was only an April Fool.)

Okay, these people were fooled many years ago. Think we're too sophisticated to fall for these shenanigans now? Hah! Not a chance.

I Believe I Can Fly

Just last year the BBC (God love ‘em for their sense of humour) tricked many into believing penguins could fly. They explained that the Adélie Penguins flew thousands of miles from Antarctica to South America to spend the winter "basking in the tropical sun".

The crew, filming a new series Miracles of Evolution, claimed to have actual footage of the Adélie Penguins flying. The video became one of the most viewed on the internet proving we're just as gullible as we were fifty years ago.

So much for evolution; it may be survival of the fittest, but it sure isn't survival of the street-wise.

I, for one, can't wait to see what they try and fool us with this year...