It claimed that the hoax had helped drive up the sales by USD 1 million in 24 hours.Īs to why people fell for such a prank, The Washington Post noted in an article on 2 April 1996 that it was because of an increased fear among the public that corporate giants were increasingly interfering in everyday life of people. The company also reportedly pledged to donate USD 50,000 for the maintenance of Liberty Bell. When the office of two US senators called up Taco Bell and the National Park Service about the news, the company issued a statement confirming that it was an April Fools’ prank. The reason given was that Taco Bell purchased it “in an effort to help the national debt.” In 1996, newspapers such as The New York Times and The Washington Post ran full-page ads announcing that fast-food chain Taco Bell had purchased the iconic bell and was planning to rename it “Taco Liberty Bell”.īroadcasters told people that the company was going to relocate Liberty Bell from Philadelphia to its California headquarters. Liberty Bell is one of the most enduring symbols of American freedom. In return, the BBC told every caller: “Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.” Taco Bell’s ‘purchase’ of Liberty Bell Image credit: Ben Schumin/ CC BY-SA 3.0/Wikimedia Commons Courtesy the “many years of patient endeavour by plant breeders who have succeeded in producing the perfect spaghetti.”įrom the presentation to the voiceover, everything which was done by the legendary Richard Dimbleby, was perfect enough to make people believe that it was true.įollowing the broadcast, viewers called up the BBC office to inquire about how to grow spaghetti on trees. The programme also went on to explain how each strand of spaghetti always grows to the same length. The footage also showed ‘harvesters’ pulling spaghetti strands from the trees and laying them for drying in the warm Alpine sun. In 1957, the BBC news programme, Panorama, aired a three-minute broadcast showing farmers in Switzerland plucking spaghetti from trees.įollowing a very precisely scripted plot, the programme ‘informed’ viewers that in “Ticino, on the borders of Switzerland and Italy, the slopes overlooking Lake Lugano have already burst into flower, at least a fortnight earlier than usual.”Īnd then it went on to add that the mild winter that preceded the spring season “resulted in an exceptionally heavy spaghetti crop” adding that part of it was because of the ‘virtual disappearance of the spaghetti weevil’ - a kind of insect. When BBC convinced viewers that spaghetti grows on trees What is common, however, is that these pranks can always be enjoyed as they were in good humour - something that needs to be noted.įrom BBC, which appears to be a repeat prankster, to an Australian millionaire from the late 1970s, here are some of the funniest pranks ever. These pranks are not the simple ‘boo’, the paper fish or the famous toilet paper roll prank these have fooled hundreds and thousands in one go and made headlines around the world.
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