Alen Abel was an educated hoaxster who's first pranks took place during the early development of television in the late 1950s.
Abel's first Televised hoax posed him as a golf pro on TV who taught Westinghouse executives how to use ballet positions to improve their golf game.
Beginning May 27, 1959 with a story on the Today Show, the Society for Indecency to Naked Animals otherwise known as SINA, was Abel's most elaborate hoax. SINA's mission was to clothe naked animals throughout the world. They are best known today for their tagline: "A nude horse is a rude horse". A spokesman for SINA, appeared on television and radio several times, including the CBS Evening News on August 21, 1962. The hoax began as a satire of media censorship but took on a life of its own with sympathizers offering unsolicited contributions (always returned, but one women in fact donated $40,000), citizen summonses for walking naked dogs, and groups for designing patterns for pet clothes.
Following the Watergate scandal, Abel hired an actor to pose as Deep Throat for a press conference in New York City before 150 reporters.
Tom Snyder, Morton Downey, Jr., Sally Jessy Raphael, Mike Douglas and Sonya Friedman where all fooled or co-opted by Abel's Omar's School for Beggars hoaxes.
Abel was also behind one of the most talked-about incidents in The Phil Donahue Show's history - on January 21, 1985, soon after the show's well-publicized move of its operations from Chicago to WNBC New York the daily broadcast of the Donahue show was devoted to a typically unusual subject — a gay senior citizens group called FAINT. However few people would later remember the topic of that day's show, because as the live broadcast progressed seven members of the audience proceeded to FAINT and concerned by the bizarre outbreak of swooning, Donahue cancelled the rest of the show and sent everyone home.
On that day's program, seven members of the audience appeared to FAINT during the broadcast, which was seen live in New York. Donahue fearing the fainting was caused by both anxiety at being on television and an overheated studio on a morning that was cold and snowy outside [U]cleared the studio of audience members and then resumed the show with an empty audience and several minutes of blank air time[/U].
It turned out the fainting "spell" was cooked up by Abel in what he said was a protest against poor-quality television. Abel later explained that the stunt was designed as a protest against the deteriorating quality of Television. He claimed that a group called F.A.I.N.T. (Fight Against Idiotic Neurotic TV) had spearheaded the protest. "
The stunt attracted more censure than any of Abel's other pranks because critics charged that it could have inspired panic at a time when there was public concern over the possible spread of Legionnaire's disease.
Abel continued to hoax the same professional media for years (including his own obituary in the NY Times, which had to be retracted) by using the same idiotic sensationalistic themes over and over again.
So remember your Trolls.
Abel's first Televised hoax posed him as a golf pro on TV who taught Westinghouse executives how to use ballet positions to improve their golf game.
Beginning May 27, 1959 with a story on the Today Show, the Society for Indecency to Naked Animals otherwise known as SINA, was Abel's most elaborate hoax. SINA's mission was to clothe naked animals throughout the world. They are best known today for their tagline: "A nude horse is a rude horse". A spokesman for SINA, appeared on television and radio several times, including the CBS Evening News on August 21, 1962. The hoax began as a satire of media censorship but took on a life of its own with sympathizers offering unsolicited contributions (always returned, but one women in fact donated $40,000), citizen summonses for walking naked dogs, and groups for designing patterns for pet clothes.
Following the Watergate scandal, Abel hired an actor to pose as Deep Throat for a press conference in New York City before 150 reporters.
Tom Snyder, Morton Downey, Jr., Sally Jessy Raphael, Mike Douglas and Sonya Friedman where all fooled or co-opted by Abel's Omar's School for Beggars hoaxes.
Abel was also behind one of the most talked-about incidents in The Phil Donahue Show's history - on January 21, 1985, soon after the show's well-publicized move of its operations from Chicago to WNBC New York the daily broadcast of the Donahue show was devoted to a typically unusual subject — a gay senior citizens group called FAINT. However few people would later remember the topic of that day's show, because as the live broadcast progressed seven members of the audience proceeded to FAINT and concerned by the bizarre outbreak of swooning, Donahue cancelled the rest of the show and sent everyone home.
On that day's program, seven members of the audience appeared to FAINT during the broadcast, which was seen live in New York. Donahue fearing the fainting was caused by both anxiety at being on television and an overheated studio on a morning that was cold and snowy outside [U]cleared the studio of audience members and then resumed the show with an empty audience and several minutes of blank air time[/U].
It turned out the fainting "spell" was cooked up by Abel in what he said was a protest against poor-quality television. Abel later explained that the stunt was designed as a protest against the deteriorating quality of Television. He claimed that a group called F.A.I.N.T. (Fight Against Idiotic Neurotic TV) had spearheaded the protest. "
The stunt attracted more censure than any of Abel's other pranks because critics charged that it could have inspired panic at a time when there was public concern over the possible spread of Legionnaire's disease.
Abel continued to hoax the same professional media for years (including his own obituary in the NY Times, which had to be retracted) by using the same idiotic sensationalistic themes over and over again.
So remember your Trolls.