Thanks for that post. I’m old enough to be able to picture Arthur Godfrey relating that. Question is, why are people so gullible? I’m not that smart, but I do at least spend some time thinking about things I’m told.
I’m halfway through Alan Abel’s early 70s book and it’s funny, he runs into newsmen who KNOW him from previous gags (like SINA, the Society against Indecent Naked Animals, I got that wrong, but it’s the concept). They recognize him and he claims he was just the hired spokesman who got caught up in defending their agenda while he’s selling them some new hoax news item.