‘God Hates Fags’ church bombarded with phone calls about turkeys
An online hoax has tricked thousands of people into calling the Westboro Baptist Church to ask about turkeys.
An article from hoax site National Report claiming that turkeys were being recalled due to a dangerous strain of Avian flu went viral ahead of Thanksgiving this week, being shared thousands of times on Facebook.
It claimed: “The CDC has confirmed that millions of turkeys have been recalled due to safety concerns over an avian virus that the birds may be harbouring.
“The virus is related to human influenza virus but was thought to lack the ability to infect humans. However, it appears that the virus has recently developed the ability to move from bird hosts into humans. The results could be disastrous.
“Individuals that have purchased a turkey from any manufacturer are encouraged to call the Turkey Safety Hotline that has been established in collaboration with the CDC and several major turkey suppliers.
“The hotline is available 24 hours a day at (785) 273-0325.”
However, instead of the non-existent Turkey Safety Hotline, the number provided was actually the switchboard for the famously anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church – leading thousands of people to try and call them.
Indeed, the demand on the ‘hotline’ was so high that users began to complain they couldn’t even get through.
One user wrote: “why don’t you make more phone lines available so people can get through. Just one number is not going to help the whole country.”
Another said: “I agree. I have been trying to call the number and all i get is a busy signal. I would like to find out if it is legit because my son’s birthday is tomorrow and he wants turkey for his bday dinner.”
A third commenter said: “The number rings busy, shouldn’t they have more phone lines so consumers can get through?”
The prank site carries the disclaimer: “National Report is a news and political satire web publication, which may or may not use real names, often in semi-real or mostly fictitious ways.
“All news articles contained within National Report are fiction, and presumably fake news. Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental.”
