April Fool’s Day Radio Hoaxes [Shameless plug alert]
[posted by Justin Levine]
As the world’s foremost authority on the subject [PDF link], I gotta pay my respects to KXOL in Los Angeles for pulling off a good one. [h/t: Franklin Avenue]
They managed to hit the sweet spot between outrageousness and believability that is required for any broadcast hoax – an increasingly difficult feat to pull off when most are on their guard for April Fool’s Day.
– Justin Levine
Justin,
Your article is very interesting and well written.
DRJ (a431ca) — 4/3/2008 @ 5:44 pmDefinitely a great prank!
A commenter at the article notes that the police could have saved themselves some time by calling the station – and I don’t disagree, particularily given the date. But, I always wish these pranksters would give the heads-up to the authorities in these situations – I just hate wasting resources.
Bob Loblaw (6d485c) — 4/3/2008 @ 6:54 pmIt was ruined for me when they fell back to the “raising awareness” defense. I suppose with that much heat they had to turn the forces of PC back with a Get Out Of Jail Free card.
rhodeymark (923596) — 4/4/2008 @ 5:13 am