Saturday, May 3, 2008
It has been revealed that a story concerning ‘Adolf Hitler dolls’ going on sale in Ukraine and aimed at children was a hoax. Many news outlets picked up the false story, including Wikinews.
Also fooled were BBC News, The Telegraph and other major publications. The story quickly spread as various media outlets quickly picked up and passed on the falsified report. Now news services have been forced to retract the story.
| This article has been retracted. This article has been deemed a hoax. | ||
The hoax first appeared two weeks ago and was spread rapidly, when a journalist found a model of Asian origin aimed at adult collecters in a specialist shop in Kiev, and misrepresented the find by failing to give basic details of the facts of the case when he publicised his find. The story propagated and expanded from there.
Wikinews issued a retraction by saying that “This article has been retracted. This article has been deemed a hoax.” while TheTrumpet.com said that “the source material that the article was based on was both inaccurate and misleading.”
The 40cm doll was reported to be available in Kiev with a £100 (GBP) price tag and come with a large range of accessories in a presentation box with the dates of Hitler’s birth and death.
BBC News Online had footage suggesting that some stores were already selling the dolls. The video turned out to be a hoax at a later date.
A ‘saleswoman’ who was allegedly marketing the false dolls said that “it [the doll] is like Barbie. Kids can undress fuhrer, pin on medals and there’s a spare head in the kit to give him a kinder expression on his face. He has glasses that are round, in the manner of pacifist John Lennon.”