March 30, 2015

Spaghetti growing on trees, square eggs, flying penguins, broadband ferrets and more funny hoaxes – you will enjoy reading this list of classic hoaxes that fooled many people.

The Spaghetti Tree

Back in 1957, relatively few people in the UK ate spaghetti so when the BBC aired a news report about a Swiss family harvesting the crop from their spaghetti tree, a good many people believed it. (Photo: Screen grab from YouTube/MySwitzerland of BBC report)

Trained ferrets used to expand broadband network

Specially trained ferrets were helping Virgin Media develop its cable network back in April 2010. We were told that the creatures were helping engineers root out the best places for fibre optic cable but were also fitted with microchipped jacket to analyse any breaks or damage in the underground network. (Photo: Virgin)

Talk to the Animals

How good would it be to know what your dog was saying with that woof or your cat with its cute purr? Well, in 2011, Google announced an Android App titled: Translate for Animals – although it was a Beta version. (Photo: Screen grab from Google)

Cut price flights to Mars

$99 for a flight to the Red Planet anyone? That’s what travel website Expedia was offering in 2009 – with a staggering $3 trillion saving! (Photo: screen grab from Expedia)

The World’s Smallest Laptop – no bigger than a coin

No bigger than a coin, Sony secured widespread coverage for its Vaio Q Ultrabook back in 2012. They described it as the world’s smallest Ultrabook in the world! (Photo: screen grab from YouTube/sgnl video)

Smellovision

Wake up and smell the coffee! Another prank from the BBC, this time from 1965. People called in to confirm they had smelled the aromas coming through their TVs following an interview with a man who had “invented” a new technology called “Smellovision”. It apparently allowed viewers at home to experience smells produced in the TV studio. (Hat-tip: Wikipedia)

No-Hole Polo Mints

Uproar ensued after the “announcement” that Polo Mints would no longer be produced with a hole back in April 1995. A series of newspaper adverts were run in British newspapers spoofing regulations from the European Economic Community. (Photo and hat-tip: The Museum of Hoaxes)

Square eggs

The world learned of the square eggs laid at a farm in Suffolk, in the UK, in 2014. At the time, they were described as having the potential to change how eggs are packed, distributed and even eaten. Of course, it was an April Fool’s Joke from Freedom Food – which is the RSPCA’s farm assurance and food labelling scheme. (Photo: Freedom Food)

Flying penguins

An all-too-realistic video from the BBC showing penguins flying! In 2008, the corporation produced startling new footage of the flightless birds now taking to the skies, The video on YouTube has been viewed more than four million times. (Video: YouTube/BBC)