On 1 April 1949, the 1ZB Radio station in Auckland embraced the spirit of April Fool’s Day with a prank announcement during its breakfast show. Unfortunately not all of the station’s listeners got the joke.

At 7.30am regular breakfast programme announcer Phil Shone gave the following announcement:

‘Here is an urgent message. A swarm of wasps of the Vespula Germanica species is flying towards the city and according to the latest report from a Police Patrol car they are slightly east of Papatoetoe. The swarm is thought to be no less than a mile wide and several hundred yards deep. Auckland city listeners and particularly those in the south Auckland suburbs are warned to close all doors and windows. Listeners are asked to assist with the authorities by preparing strips of paper smeared with either jam or honey; these strips should left outside, preferably in some open space… Instructions for dealing with settled swarms will be given as soon as they reach us; these are being prepared by the Department of Agriculture. Until these come to hand we urge all listeners in Auckland city and suburbs to close all windows and doors and place outside the jam and honey lures’.

Ten minutes later a second announcement was made to reinforce the point:

‘These are the instructions as supplied by the Department of Agriculture…Trousers should be tied at the ankle and socks pulled over the trouser ends; gloves should be worn inside shirt sleeves and tied at the cuffs; a wide brimmed hat fitted with a fine net should be worn, and the net should be worn inside the shirt and sewn to it. The swarm should be approached quietly and don’t attempt to hit out at the stray ones that attack you; remember that they can’t hurt you provided the instructions have been carried out thoroughly’

By 8am the station was receiving telephone calls from police stations reporting that their lines were jammed with concerned listeners. Shone decided the joke had gone far enough and finished the broadcast by saying that all the wasps had settled on a particular house in the suburbs.

The station was inundated with feedback from its listeners about the hoax – mostly complimentary at the cleverness of the joke, but there were also many people who had been taken in by the announcement and regarded it as an immature stunt. Several complaints were made to the station and the issue was raised with the Minister of Broadcasting. The Director of 1ZB James Shelley issued a statement saying that an internal investigation of the hoax had been undertaken, that the broadcast was in ‘deplorable taste’, and no such similar thing would ever occur at the station again. However numerous letters were sent to the newspapers in the following days, many lamenting the inability of Auckland listeners to accept the humorous spirit of the prank.

This image comes from a file of internal correspondence, newspaper clippings, and letters of support and complaint regarding the hoax, compiled by the New Zealand Broadcasting Service.

Archives reference: AADL W1516 564 Box 539 www.archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=18663082

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