CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Despite the fact that the forecast calls for snow in the Charlotte-area on Tuesday, our First Warn Forecaster Larry Sprinkle said the marshmallow crop will be just fine.
Sprinkle made his way to Carrigan Farms in Mooresville for a first-hand look at how the farm is taking care of one of their most vital crops.
THE PRANK
Doug Carrigan, from Carrigan Farms up in Mooresville, N.C. called up Larry Sprinkle about 18-20 years ago to hatch a brilliant April Fools Day prank.
"He had this idea to kind of tie it together with trees and marshmallows," Sprinkle recalled. "I said that's a great idea."
So Sprinkle drove up to Carrigan Farms days before April 1st to shoot the news story.
Carrigan had the farm all prepared for the elaborate prank. He had about five teenagers take about 1,000 marshmallows and perfectly place them in his apple trees.
Sprinkle said Carrigan and his team spent hours making it look like as if there was a whole orchard full of marshmallows on the trees.
Carrigan then had his employees pick the marshmallows off of the trees as if they were picking apples.
"So you take maybe 40 apple trees filled with marshmallows, you put Doug and me in front of those trees, couple guys picking them and it just appeared as if, 'yeah, marshmallows really do grow on trees, "Sprinkle said.
Digital exclusive: Behind the making of the marshmallow prank
THE AFTERMATH
That first year after Sprinkle ran the package, he said a group from up in the mountains rented a charter bus and drove to Mooresville to check out the fake marshmallow crop.
"There were carloads of people, literally came periodically, to see these marshmallows on trees," Sprinkle said. "Call after call into Carrigan Farms... calls and emails into the TV station about this."
Sprinkle was just amazed by the number of adults who really thought marshmallows grew on trees.
"These were adults, these were not kids, who firmly believed," Sprinkle said. "I even had situations where people told me there were arguments among people and families."
For Sprinkle and Carrigan, the response to their silly April Fools Day prank was much more than they could have ever imagined.
"We were hoping that a few would believe, but when we ran it, the response really has been worldwide," Sprinkle said.
Even though the initial package ran nearly 20 years ago, Sprinkle said it's now a tradition for him to air the same story every April 1st.
"You know after all these years it's run, now the response we get is people saying, 'is that really true?' Sprinkle said.
For Sprinkle, his a favorite part about the whole gag is the amount of effort everyone put into the prank.
"How concentrated we are in explaining it and taking a bite out of it, and the guys who are picking the marshmallows, how they're doing it so seriously as if yeah that's a real crop of marshmallows," Sprinkle added.