erynthered Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Alex Boese, curator of the online Museum of Hoaxes, said one of his favorite hoaxes remains the one perpetrated by the BBC on April Fools' Day 1957. The BBC aired a report on the television news show Panorama about the bumper spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland. Viewers watched Swiss farmers pull pasta off spaghetti trees as the show's anchor, Richard Dimbleby, attributed the bountiful harvest to the mild winter and the disappearance of the spaghetti weevil. The broadcaster detailed the ins and outs of the life of the spaghetti farmer and anticipated questions about how spaghetti grows on trees. Thousands of people believed the report and called the BBC to inquire about growing their own spaghetti trees, to which the BBC replied, "Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best." "British society really was like that at that time," Boese said. "The British have a tendency to be a bit insulated and do not know that much about the rest of Europe." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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