The 5 most absurd hoaxes in 2016 that people believed
Continuing our look back at 2016, here we list the 5 hoaxes that we consider the most ridiculous, absurd and ludicrous that people actually believed (and as such, we had to debunk.)
Before you ask, yes, people really did believe all of these.
The badly “disfigured dog”
The below photo – that surfaced online in January of 2016 – shows a dog that was apparently badly disfigured when trying to save his family from a devastating house fire.
However, heroic tale this is not. Despite the dog’s photo getting thousands of shares online with many praising this gallant tale, this image is – and always will be – a dog with a slice of ham on its face.
An equally bizarre photo also did the rounds a year prior, only this time it was a young girl adorned with a slice of ham. We discussed the image here.
GuyFi Booths
If some media outlets were to be believed, New York would have had the dubious honour of being the first (and probably only) city in the United States to setup GuyFi booths.
And if you’re not sure exactly what they are, you may very well want to skip this section. According to the marketing blurb, GuyFi booths were a quick and easy way for men to “relieve” themselves in private (and by private, we mean a booth located on a busy city sidewalk) for when going home is just to inconvenient.
Each booth was equipped with a chair, laptop and high speed Internet connection for the users pleasure. Of course none of it was real, just a marketing gimmick from sex company Hot Octopuss. Sorry guys.
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Share this picture of Vietnam soldiers?
There is no shortage of posts on Facebook asking you to like and share them, often in order to commemorate someone or to “raise awareness” for a particular cause.
And many did share when the below image circulated between users that apparently depicted “brave Vietnam soldiers”. “Sadly less than 2% of you will share” said the Facebook post, implying that many just don’t care enough to simply share a photo of these brave souls.
While many did share the photo, many likely recognised the photo doesn’t show Vietnam soldiers. It’s the cast from movie Tropic Thunder, including Jack Black, Ben Stiller and a black Robert Downey Jr.
Watch out for robbers posing as United Utilities workers
If you saw a photo of these two chaps appearing on your newsfeed in the run up to Christmas 2016, then there’s a good chance it was attached to a warning about how they were posing as United Utilities workers in a bid to fool victims into allowing them into their houses.
But there is something very familiar with this story…
Probably because it was the plot of a famous 1990s kids movie, and these two – Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern – were the stars.
Drilling a hole in your iPhone gets you your audio jack back?
Many Apple fans were dismayed in 2016 to find out that the latest model of iPhone would forgo the standard audio jack, forcing users to use a bespoke connection or use wireless Bluetooth headphones.
But worry not, according to one popular online video. You can get that much coveted audio jack back. All you need is a 3.5mm drillbit, an iPhone and someone foolish enough to actually follow the instructions on the video.
Despite the videos claims, the audio jack wasn’t “hidden” under the phone chassis, and installing an audio jack is somewhat more complex than taking a drill to your phone. Yet, as we have discovered, some people did try, to their own detriment.