Perhaps C S Lewis had cast his magical spell farther afield than usual – but a spoof news report about Narnia tricked some of the world’s best business brains.
A Day Today-style story claimed the state of Narnia had walked out of the World Trade Organization talks in Hong Kong because it was fed up with being bullied by the US and Europe.
The wind-up was posted on news wires on Sunday and stayed up for nearly an hour – long enough for it to be picked up by top business websites, including Forbes.com.
According to the bogus story, Narnia – the fantasy land created by CS Lewis in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – had abandoned the talks.
“The independent state of Narnia has walked out of trade negotiations here, citing pressure from the EU and the US to enforce liberalization of its garment-related sector,” read the story.
It went on to quote Narnia’s spokeswoman “Susan Aslan” attacking “bullying by EU and US delegations”, adding its representatives were returning to the capital Cair Paravel.
After being alerted to the story, Forbes.com withdrew it. News agency AFX, which ran the story, said it came from Chinese media company XFN.