Fact Check

How to Create a Hybrid Kiwi-Banana Fruit

A video showing how gardeners can create hybrid kiwi-banana fruits is an old April Fool's Day joke.

Published March 16, 2016

 (YouTube)
Image Via YouTube
Claim:
Gardeners can create a hybrid kiwi banana fruit by planting a piece of a banana and a piece of a kiwi in the same pot.

On 13 March 2016, the Facebook page Foods Around posted a video purportedly showing how to create a hybrid "banana kiwi fruit":

The video, which was shared more than 500,000 times within the first few days of its initial posting, purportedly captured a man creating a "banana kiwi fruit" by planting a piece of a banana alongside a piece of a kiwi in a pot.

This video, however, wasn't real: the Facebook clip was actually a small segment of a longer video that was shared by the YouTube channel Kin Community on 1 April 2014. In addition to the clue of the video's upload date (April Fool's Day), the original footage included a revelatory parting message from the banana-kiwi fruit's creator:

I do hope you give this project a try. Experiment with the clippings of fruit and vegetables you use ever day to  see what sort of fruit hybrids you can create.

Thank you so much for watching. I want to wish you a very happy April Fool's Day. And join me next time for an actual DIY.

The video's description on YouTube also offered a not-so-subtle hint that the "baniwi" was a hoax:

New fruit hybrids are often a hit and miss process of experimentation and results are not guaranteed. However, if you are able to successfully grow the beautiful banana and kiwi combination demonstrated in this video, we recommend you proceed directly to your corner market and purchase a lottery ticket. Wishing you a very happy April Fool's Day!

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.

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