We all have those signs or signals that tell us that a certain part of the year is fast approaching. A crisp freshness to the air after a muggy Summer, the local supermarket putting up their Christmas decorations, the first bloom of Spring, or even the excitement of booking a summer holiday.
In our office, we can tell what part of the year it is when certain hoaxes make their obligatory and inevitable annual appearance. These hoaxes are as predictable as they are complete nonsense. They’re the clockwork of the Internet world of total hogwash, yet people continue to fall for them year after year.
In the first yearly encounter of “it offends Muslims” brand of nonsense comes the “Easter is banned” rumour that asserts that the word Easter is banned from various places because it is just too offensive to ‘ethnic minorities’ (read between the lines … Muslims.)
Tabloid newspapers don’t generally help. The Daily Star in the UK led with the headline “Easter Eggs are Banned” in 2016, despite them not being banned at all. This was basically cashing in on social media rumours that spread in both 2014 and 2015 saying the same thing. Perhaps most popularly however was again in 2016 when a viral rumour claimed that UK supermarket Tesco’s had stopped stocking Easter eggs that had the word Easter on the packaging, instead only stocking ‘Chocolate Eggs’. However a quick trip to your local Tesco was more than enough to debunk that claim. In 2017 Cadbury was in the firing line for banning the word Easter, something that was equally easily to dismiss after a quick browse of their packaging/Facebook page/website/marketing materials.
The fake news “fauxtire” industry also got in on the act, claiming that Essex villages High Easter and Good Easter were being forced to change their name because… yes, it was offensive to Muslims. That nonsense was apparently compelling enough for right-wing hate group Britain First to repost to their hundreds of thousands of followers.
Will there be a green moon on April 20th? No, but this hasn’t stopped this silly hoax from circulating every year in April. Why April 20th we hear you ask? Apparently 420 is a number associated with marijuana (aka “green) and April 20th is 4/20. This hoax also claims this won’t happen again until another 420 years… so no guessing where the inspiration for 420 years came from! It’s not true – never been true and our full write-up is here.
On August 27th 2003, Mars passed very close to planet Earth. In fact, the pair had never been so close for over 60,000 years, so astronomers have told us.
This event has led to this bizarre rumour that has circulated almost every year since, that claims Mars will be so close to planet Earth that it will appear to be a second moon in the sky (that’s not true, and it wasn’t even true in 2003 when they were very close.)
August 27th 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 have all seen this same rumour come to pass. It’s just not true!
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Remembrance Day in countries like the UK, Canada and Australia occurs in November and is a day for people to remember those members of the armed services killed in the line of duty. And a popular rumour that is guaranteed to make an appearance on social media every year in the month leading up to the day is the claim that volunteers cannot sell poppies (the Remembrance Day symbol) for fear of insulting religious minorities.
Despite the claims appearing every year, there is never any truth to them. While isolated incidents often occur that can hinder someone’s attempts to sell poppies at a certain place, this has never got anything to do with religion or fear of insulting anyone. We discuss the rumour here.
Halloween is the best time for some pretty scary tales to circulate the Interwebs. However, there is a difference between ‘genuine scary’ and just pure alarmist, and the latter is what these variants of rumours fall into.
They warn of the latest “gang initiations” hitting specific areas that are often disguised as police warnings. They claim that new gang members are looking to murder or rape women at gas stations or rural roads, and that this is the “latest type of gang initiation”.
However, the warnings are just alarmist, and don’t come from reputable sources. While we should always practise good common sense advice when it comes to staying safe (i.e. not putting yourself into vulnerable or dangerous situations,) circulating alarmist, nonsense hoaxes like this does no one any favours.
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When it comes to cultural holidays of the West, Christmas is obviously the biggest and most widely celebrated, and as such it comes with its own set of nonsense rumours that are certain to begin spreading as soon as the festive chill begins (up north.)
One such popular example of inevitable festive themed rumours is that claim that we’re “not supposed to say Merry Christmas anymore”. Why? Yep, you guessed it, it’s those pesky ethnic minorities getting offended again.
Of course there is little truth here. While many businesses (or people) may say ‘Happy Holidays’ in favour of ‘Merry Christmas’, the notion that has anything to do with “not offending” anyone – or any sort of apparent – “taking over” or “Islamification”, is just pure hogwash.
In reality, it is down to the fact that we live in a multi-cultural society, filled with people of many different religions or no religion at all. A small number of people may prefer ‘Happy Holidays’ from the perspective of just simply widening your demographic. We’ve never heard of anyone being genuinely offended by the phrase ‘Merry Christmas’, so it may be time to put this one to bed once and for all.
And in a similar vein, Christmas is not being banned. Christmas trees are not being taken away. Christmas lights are not being called “Winter Lights” (that happened in one place and was soon reversed) and no one is forbidding Christmas decorations.
Christmas traditions are inevitably in full swing every December, and any quick trip outside of your home (or just turning the TV on) at any point in December of any year will soon confirm that.
