Spaghetti Trees

The CNN called the following broadcast of the BBC in 1957 "the biggest hoax that any reputable news establishment ever pulled".

Spaghetti Tree hoax

The BBC television programme Panorama ran a hoax in 1957, showing the Swiss harvesting spaghetti from trees. They claimed that the despised pest, the spaghetti weevil, had been eradicated.

A large number of people contacted the BBC wanting to know how to cultivate their own spaghetti trees. The editor of Panorama at the time, Michael Peacock, approved the idea, which was pitched by freelance camera operator Charles de Jaeger. Peacock told the BBC in 2014 that he gave de Jaeger a budget of £100.

Peacock said the respected Panorama anchorman Richard Dimbleby knew they were using his authoritativeness to make the joke work. He said Dimbleby loved the idea and went at it with relish.