In 1698, people received invitations to an official Annual Ceremony of Washing the Lions at the Tower of London which required formal footwear according to its official appearance. The joke is that there was no ceremony, and anyone who showed up was left holding their dignity at the gate with no lions to wash.
The Berners Street Hoax:
The streets of London became blocked when Theodore Hook sent multiple letters to a central location which brought tradespeople and deliveries and dignitaries to that one address. The situation became both cruel and humorous because people spent days preparing their invitations which resulted in all city residents arriving at the same location on that day.
The Great Moon Hoax:
In 1835 a New York newspaper published multiple articles which declared that scientists had found life on the Moon by providing false information and using fake scientific credibility. The prank succeeded because it presented itself as an authentic scientific breakthrough which people found exciting to believe while the newspaper later confessed that the entire story had been made up.
The Cardiff Giant:
In 1869, workers digging a well in upstate New York "found" a ten-foot petrified man, and the public treated it like a miracle that happened to come with an admission fee. The story became more amusing because showmen and copycats added their attempts to create competition with P. T. Barnum's competing giant fake monster which proved their lack of honest conduct.
The Cottingley Fairies Photos:
In 1917, two cousins in Yorkshire produced photographs that appeared to show fairies, using cutouts and a straight face, and the prank somehow became a cultural phenomenon. The most absurd part is how long it lasted, with believers and skeptics debating for decades before the women admitted, years later, that it started as a bit of fun.
The Dreadnought Hoax:
The Royal Navy agreed to a ceremonial tour of HMS Dreadnought which Horace de Vere Cole and his group presented to fake Abyssinian royal delegates in 1910. The production used elaborate theatrical elements which included contemporary practices of power demonstrations that created awkwardness with the racial costume traditions of that historical period.
Kremvax, The Kremlin Usenet “Site”:
On April 1, 1984, Usenet users received news that the Soviet Union had joined the network through a nonexistent website named Kremvax. The joke succeeded because it used Cold War beliefs as its foundation while early internet users who joined the joke found their excitement transformed into realization about its falsehood.
The BBC Spaghetti Tree Broadcast:
The BBC broadcasted a serious news segment in 1957 which showed people harvesting spaghetti from Swiss tree farms. Viewers called in asking how to grow their own, which is both hilarious and oddly understandable when a trusted broadcaster is calmly narrating pasta agriculture.
Sweden’s Nylon Stocking Color TV Trick:
In 1962, Sweden's only television channel broadcast a program which showed viewers how to transform black-and-white television into color by using a nylon stocking as a screen cover. The perfect mental image exists when people picture living rooms throughout the nation as people search through drawers to examine their results which people believe to be their technique problem.
Big Ben Goes Digital:
In 1980 the BBC overseas service announced that Big Ben would receive a digital display which caused listeners to react as though someone had threatened their family. The prank succeeded because it targeted a particular emotional response which people reserve for situations where someone attempts to modernize things that they never wanted to modernize.
Polo Mints with No Holes:
Marketers revealed in 1995 that Polo mints would stop making their products with holes because of an alleged European regulation. The joke succeeded because it contained three elements which made the fake rule sound authentic.
Taco Bell “Buys” The Liberty Bell:
In 1996, Taco Bell placed newspaper ads claiming it had purchased the Liberty Bell to help reduce the national debt and had renamed it accordingly. The prank succeeded in creating its main objective because it made thousands of people contact Taco Bell and the National Park Service which shows that businesses can create situations that seem real yet stay within their usual boundaries.
The Left-Handed Whopper:
In 1998, Burger King ran an ad for a Left-Handed Whopper supposedly engineered for left-handed customers, as if rotating condiments is a public service. The most humorous aspect of the situation shows how employees had to deal with customers who wanted to order the product.
Sidd Finch, Baseball’s Perfect Fiction:
Sports Illustrated published George Plimpton's story about a mysterious Mets pitching prospect who could throw a 168-mph fastball in 1985. The writing style of the text created such strong emotions that multiple readers followed the story, which depends on the audience wanting to see miraculous events.
