1. Left-Handed Whopper
Canadians and Americans are world-renowned for their love of fast food, so it's no surprise that this prank fooled many on both sides of the border. In 1998, Burger King published an ad in USA Today heralding the launch of an exciting new product: the "Left-Handed Whopper." The burger was described as having the same ingredients as a regular Whopper, but with all the condiments rotated to optimize flavour for leftie customers. The next day Burger King announced that thousands of customers had requested the sandwich, while many others specified that they wished to continue receiving the right-handed product. After all, you don't mess with a classic.
2. Swiss Spaghetti Harvest
Historically, the British have not been known for their culinary sophistication, and this 1957 hoax helps explain why. When the BBC news program Panorama ran a piece on how the defeat of the spaghetti weevil in Switzerland had led to a bumper crop of the pasta, many viewers called in asking how to grow their own spaghetti tree. At the time, many Britons still considered pasta an exotic product and were therefore fooled by the BBC's instructions to "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."
3. Even less legroom
Many airlines have begun charging extra for legroom but WestJet decided to take the trend even further with this 2008 hoax. The Canadian airline announced that it would begin converting overhead compartments to sleeper cabins and that the new accommodations would be available for the small fee of $12. Although the announcement was totally untrue, WestJet did use the joke as an opportunity to advertise that their overhead compartments "are among the most spacious of any airline." And although such small accommodations may seem far-fetched, don't be surprised if airlines look to this Japanese innovation in the future.
4. The Taco Liberty Bell
Recently, the U.S. government has been hoping health reform will take a bite out of the nation's mammoth debt, but in 1996 Taco Bell announced a different, and far less probable, solution. The fast-food chain took out an ad in seven newspapers announcing that they had bought Philadelphia's iconic Liberty Bell and renamed it the "Taco Liberty Bell" in a bid to help reduce the country's debt. Indignant citizens immediately contacted the relevant authorities to voice their displeasure. The joke, which Taco Bell claims as a one of their most successful ad campaigns ever, even spread to the White House briefing room, where then press secretary Mike McCurry quipped that Washington would also be selling the Lincoln Memorial to Ford and "renaming it the Lincoln-Mercury Memorial."
5. CBC punks 'Jimmy Carter'
Canadians have been known to poke fun at our southern neighbours for their supposedly backward ways, but this 2001 prank by the CBC took things a step further. During an interview with former president Jimmy Carter, radio host Michael Enright called the native Georgian "a washed-up peanut farmer from Hicksville." Seemingly amazed by the taunt, Carter called Enright a "rude person" and promptly hung up. The host then explained that the argument had been in jest and that Carter had actually been impersonated by a Toronto comedian. Despite the disclosure, The Globe and Mail reported the exchange as fact on its front page the following day.
Kisses,
The Dolls
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