Punk'd Again

It's not often that the web world gets fooled for several days, but that's what happened with the recent stofy about Air Force One getting "tagged."

As it turns out, the whole thing was a hoax. But it was such a good hoax that even the Air Force thought it might be real!

WASHINGTON Apr 22, 2006 (AP)— A startling Internet video that shows someone spraying graffiti on President Bush's jet looked so authentic that the Air Force wasn't immediately certain whether the plane had been targeted.
It was all a hoax. No one actually sprayed the slogan "Still Free" on the cowling of Air Force One.
The pranksters responsible for the grainy, two-minute Web video employed by a New York fashion company revealed Friday how they pulled it off: a rented 747 in California painted to look almost exactly like Air Force One.

Companies are trying harder and harder to come up with fake news that they can spread on the internet to get attention. First they sneak out the fake story, which is supposed to catch on like wildfire. Then they admit to the fake and give their sales pitch. It's all part of "viral marketing". They got me a couple months ago when I thought Don Knotts was a former marine. He wasn't. Melissa fell for one a couple of weeks ago and now it looks like they got Bob too. I mean, they even rented a 747 to make up the video so it would look real! I have to admit I saw the story and didn't think anything at all was fake about it. Seemed like just another "inner-city youths gone bad" story. But nope. They done got us again. As the kids would say, Bob! Dude! You've been punk'd!