Tell me which one of these April Fools stories are true, and why (no peeking, O.K.?):

One: In 1998 Burger King published a full-page advertisement in USA Today announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu, called the “Left-Handed Whopper,” which was specifically designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. According to the ad, the new whopper included the same ingredients as the original Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.), but all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for the benefit of their left-handed customers. The following day Burger King issued a follow-up release, which admitted, even though the Left-Handed Whopper was a hoax, thousands of customers had gone into restaurants requesting this new sandwich. Also according to the press release, many other people requested their own ‘right handed’ version.

Two: In 1982 the U.K. paper The Daily Mail reported that a local manufacturer had sold 10,000 “rogue bras” that were causing a unique problem, not to the wearers but to the public at large. Apparently the support wire in these bras had been made out of a kind of copper originally designed for use in fire alarms. When this copper came into contact with nylon and body heat, it produced static electricity, which was now interfering with local television and radio broadcasts. The chief engineer of British Telecom, upon reading the article, immediately ordered that all his female laboratory employees disclose what type of bra they were wearing. (Boing!)

Three: This one’s for my friend and Thursday’s radio guest, Dave Brady: In 1981 the Herald-News in Roscommon, Michigan reported that 3 lakes in northern Michigan had been selected to host “an in-depth study into the breeding and habits of several species of fresh-water sharks.” Two thousand sharks were to be released into the lakes including blue sharks, hammerheads, and a few great whites. The experiment was designed to determine whether the sharks could survive in the cold climate of Michigan. The federal government was said to be spending $1.3 million to determine this, and a representative from the National Biological Foundation was quoted as saying that there would probably be a noticeable decline in the populations of other fish in the lake because “the sharks will eat about 20 pounds of fish each per day, more as they get older.” County officials were said to have protested the experiment, afraid of the hazard it would pose to fishermen and swimmers, but their complaints had been ignored by the federal government. Furthermore, fishermen had been forbidden from catching the sharks. The Herald-News received a flurry of letters in response to the announcement.

By-the-way, I want to let you know that the bulk of this info was provided by www.museumofhoaxes.com.

Let me know which one of these stories is true, and tomorrow I’ll reveal the answer, and a very valuable marketing lesson about this.

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

P.S. Check out what else the King has for sale at http://www.kingofcopy.com/products

P.P.S. Mark your calendars for my radio show this week when I have a VERY special guest — a man who’s been the “secret weapon” behind LOADS of direct-response marketing mailers for the last 20 years. The show airs live at 1pm Eastern time on Thursdays, and you can listen in at http://www.kingofcopy.com/radio