Bent Spoon Award

 

Presented annually to the perpetrator of the most preposterous piece of paranormal or pseudo-scientific piffle.

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About the Award

Read Barry Williams' overview of the prestigious Bent Spoon Award. What is it? How was it constructed? How are nominations selected? Who are the previous winners? Barry explains it all.

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2008 Nominations

• A Current Affair and reporter Ben McCormack
• ABC Television
• Adelaide Sunday Mail
• Amanda de Warren and Michelle Hamer
• Amanda de Warren
• Araluen Arts Centre
• Australia Post
• Canberra Radio Station Mix 106.3
• Carbon sequestration
• Cardinal George Pell
• Catalyst - ABC Television
• Dowsers group at Franklin
• Experiencers - ABC TV
• Foxtel
• Greg Cary
• Lutec
• Malcolm Turnbull
• Mannatech
• Melbourne Museum
• Michael Connolly
• Northern Territory News
• NSW Stae Government
• Peter Conlon
• Radio JJJ and Dools & Linda
• Richard Saunders
• SBS Evening News
• Sensing Murder - Channel 9 TV
• Sharon Stone
• Susie - WIN TV
• Take Action Pty Ltd
• Tea Tree Gully Council
• Terri Irwin
• The One - Channel 7
• The vast majority of the population
• Today Tonight - Channel 7
• TV Station GWN (Golden West Network)
• Water4Gas
• Wilson Tuckey MHR

See the details of the nominations here.

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2007 Nominations

The Bent Spoon for 2007 went to Marena Manzoufas, Head of Programming at the ABC for her sterling work in authorising the television show Psychic Investigators, made worse by putting it to air in the Catalyst timeslot.

• ABC Television - Psychic Investigators
• Marena Manzoufas, Head of Programming at the ABC
• ABC Television
• Channel 9 - Mornings with Kerri-Anne Kennelly
• iDetox Ion Cleanse
• The purveyors of Himalayan Goji Berry Juice
• Discovery Science Channel
• Kerry-Anne Kennelly
• Channel 10 Programming Department
• Christopher Pine M.H.R.
• Natural Health and Vegetarian Living
• David Miles, Aquiess
• 2DayFM (John Edward)
• Dr David van Gend
• Dr Helen Caldicott
• Dr Richard Gordon
• Eleni Papadopulos-Eleopulos
• Bio-Natural Australia Pty Ltd
• John "I see dead people" Edwards
• Australian Psychic Expo, Townsville
• Clean Coal
• Foxtel
• Steorn with their Orbo
• Wikipedia
• Peter Garrett
• Pfizer
• Prime Minister John Howard
• Professor Bruce Robinson
• Queensland Training Authority
• Rhonda Byrne
• Robyn McSweeney, Liberal MLC, Western Australia
• Simonne Lee
• Simple Savings website
• McCallum Marketing
• Boffins Bookstore
• Max Whisson and Phillip Adams
• Unless they're from "The Chaser", all those who pay to see John Edwards. If that can't be accepted, then John Edwards himself.
• Australian Bureau of Statistics
• Australia Post
• David R. Hawkins
• Siobhan Maiden - ABC Radio, Hobart
• Victorian government "Better Health Channel"
• SMS Name Compatibility Ratings
• Victorian Dept of Industry, Innovation and Regional Development
• Southern Cross University
• Trish Mc Cagh
• Tim Flannery
• The Rangertell Examiner
• The pharmacies of Australia
• The Australian Skeptics' Bent spoon awards
• The ABC (again)

See the details of the nominations here.

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2006 Nominations

The Bent Spoon Award for 2006 went to the pharmacists of Australia who manage to forget their scientific training long enough to sell quackery and snake oil in places where consumers should expect to get real medical supplies and advice.

• Dr Brendan Nelson, Federal Minister for Education (17 nominations)
• Tony Abbott MP, Federal Minister for Health and Aging (4 nominations)
• Channel 9 - What's Good For You (4 nominations)
• Peter Beattie - Premier of Queensland (3 nominations)
• Anonymous AFP Officer (3 nominations)
• This web site (3 nominations)
• What the Bleep!?: Down the Rabbit Hole (3 nominations)
• Tom Cruise (3 nominations)
• Harold Scruby (2 nominations)
• Diabetes Australia (2 nominations)
• ABC Radio - The Spirit of Things (2 nominations)
• Victorian Government Bodies Gym and the Department of Education and Training (2 nominations)
• Creation Science Foundation (2 nominations)
• Mike Willisee (on Enough Rope on the ABC) (2 nominations)
• ABC Television - Second Opinion (2 nominations)
• St George & Sutherland Shire Leader (Fairfax Community Newspapers) (2 nominations)
• The Advertiser newspaper, Adelaide (2 nominations)
• Advanced Allergy Elimination (1 nomination)
• Australian Homoeopathic Association (1 nomination)
• ABC Radio - Ingrid Just (1 nomination)
• ABC Radio - Triple J (1 nomination)
• ABC Radio National - Breakfast with Fran Kelly (1 nomination)
• ABC Radio SA - Kieran Weir (1 nomination)
• ABC Television - Compass (1 nomination)
• ABC Television - Lifetc Magazine (1 nomination)
• Brian Watters (1 nomination)
• Ann Ann ( Womans Day mag) (1 nomination)
• Channel 7 - The Great Outdoors (1 nomination)
• Dogs Life Magazine (1 nomination)
• ABC Television - Four Corners (1 nomination)
• Dr Tim Hawkes, Headmaster, The Kings School (1 nomination)
• Channel 7 - Sunrise (1 nomination)
• Epoch Times (1 nomination)
• Dr Jonathan Sarfati (1 nomination)
• Dr Fred Alan Wolf PhD (1 nomination)
• Fire Walking (1 nomination)
• Dr Sandra Cabot (1 nomination)
• Foxtel (1 nomination)
• Dr Patrick Farrell (1 nomination)
• Australian Media (all formats) (1 nomination)
• Channel 7 The Great Outdoors Mar '06 (1 nomination)
• Australian Veterinarian Association (1 nomination)
• Frances Seen (1 nomination)
• Deb Webber - Psychic medium (1 nomination)
• John Howard (1 nomination)
• Channel 10 - 9AM with David & Kim (1 nomination)
• Sister Maria Casey (1 nomination)
• Kerry Armstrong (1 nomination)
• Global Institute for New Energy Technologies (1 nomination)
• Grant Spork (1 nomination)
• 4BC Radio - Greg Cary (1 nomination)
• Harry Palmer and Pacific Avatar® (1 nomination)
• Your Trading Edge July/August magazine (1 nomination)
• iDetox Foot Treatment (1 nomination)
• Intelligent Design (1 nomination)
• Victor Zammit (1 nomination)
• Murdoch University, RMIT and Macquarie University (1 nomination)
• Those who suggest David Hicks should be Australian of the Year (1 nomination)
• Mike Corkhill (1 nomination)
• Kevin Trudeau (1 nomination)
• Les Dyer (1 nomination)
• Lliljiana Ravlich, West Australian Minister for Education (1 nomination)
• Lufthansa (1 nomination)
• Madonna and Guy Ritchie (1 nomination)
• MBF (1 nomination)
• Medibank Private (1 nomination)
• Merck Sharp & Dohme Pty Ltd (1 nomination)
• George Doubwya (sic) Bush (1 nomination)
• Investigate magazine (1 nomination)
• Rex Hunt (1 nomination)
• Bert Newton (1 nomination)
• Hoofbeats Magazine (1 nomination)
• BP Australia (1 nomination)
• Gene Ray (1 nomination)
• CAE (Council for Adult Education) Victoria, jointly with the Victorian State Government (1 nomination)
• Category 7:The End Of The World (1 nomination)
• Alison Du Bois (1 nomination)
• The Better Health Channel (1 nomination)
• Politicians Against Stem Cell Research (1 nomination)
• Wholistic Healing Expo 2005 Campbelltown RSL Club (1 nomination)
• Rev Margaret Court (1 nomination)
• Jim Soorley (1 nomination)
• Robyn Williams (1 nomination)
• Ruth Ostrow (1 nomination)
• Scott Russell Hill (1 nomination)
• Simply Better magazine (1 nomination)
• Harrisons Pharmacies (1 nomination)
• Stephen Wagner (1 nomination)
• Midirs "Informed Choice" (1 nomination)
• The Da Vinci Code and its small siblings (1 nomination)
• The Examiner T-G EXOTEROC (Ver 7 06), Ultra Long Range Locator (1 nomination)
• The IPCC (1 nomination)
• The Sunday Mail (1 nomination)
• The Sydney Morning Herald (1 nomination)
• Pulsating Electromagnetic Resonance Therapy PERT (1 nomination)

See the details of the nominations here.

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2005 Nominations

The winner for 2005 was the ABC television program Second Opinion. Read about it here

• Tony Abbott MP, Federal Minister for Health
• Anonymous ABC caller
• Anybody who goes to see the cinematic snake oil called “What the #*!! Do We Know”
• Australian Financial Review
• Australian Fitness Network
• Australian Medical Association
• Russian astrologist Marina Bai
• The BBC
• Beyond Tomorrow
• Tony Blair
• The Cat Protection Society
• Channel 7 - "Prophecy Prediction - Into the Future"
• Channel 7 Newsroom
• Channel 9
• Peter Costello
• A Current Affair
• Edith Cowan University's Student Magazine, Harambee
• Rex Gilroy
• Holistic Animal Therapy Association of Australia
• MBF Health Fund
• Medibank Private
• The New Inventors - ABC Television
• Northern Rivers Institute of TAFE
• Michael Nott
• Pharmacy Guild of Australia (2 nominations)
• Peter D Rodgers
• Second Opinion - ABC TV (14 nominations)
• The Southern Courier Property section
• Sydney Morning Herald - "Health & Science"
• Sydney Morning Herald - Webdiary
• Sunday Telegraph
• The Sunday Times (Perth)
• Victorian Government

See the details of the nominations here.

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2004 Nominations

The winners for 2004 were the producers of the ABC television show The New Inventors, principally for giving consideration to an obvious piece of pseudoscience, the AntiBio water water conditioning system.

Some of the following nominations were received too late to make it into the prize evaluation for 2003 so they were moved forward to 2004.

• Discovery Channel
• Deal or No Deal (Channel 7)
• New Inventors (ABC TV)
• Tony Barber
• Big Brother (for astrology)
• Ann Ann the Psychic (2 Nominations)
• Margot Zlotkowski and the Cairns Post
• Sydney Morning Herald Technology section
• The West Australian newspaper
• Inala Catholic Church
• Greenpeace
• WEA Illawarra
• Robert Young and Associates
• Quality Point Marketing
• Dr Peter Vardey, homeopathic dentist
• Royal College of Nursing
• ABC Radio 702
• Creation Tips web site (2 nominations)
• A Current Affair (re John Edward)
• Channel 7 for "Sensing Murder" (4 nominations)
• Australian Woman's Weekly (3 nominations)
• Kerri-Anne Kennerley (3 nominations)
• The Bert Newton Show (2 nominations, 1 dispute)
• Medec Ltd
• Penis Enlargement Australia
• Doctor Louise Holiday
• Deb Webber
• Hydrosmart (plus 1 dispute)
• Cardinal George Pell
• The Alfred Hospital
• Pacific Publications
• Spellkaster
• Practitioners of cytotoxic allergy testing
• Pay TV Lifestyle Channel
• Practitioners of "Ear Candling"
• Victorian Office of Training and Tertiary Education

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2003 Nominations

The year 2003 winner is: The Complementary Healthcare Council. Read about the awards in three related articles from the spring 2003 issue of the Skeptic journal.

• Dept of Complimentary Medicine of Sturt University
• Target Stores
• Biomagnetics
• The Queen of Australia
• Austrian Government and Age Newspaper
• Complementary Healthcare Council Australia (2 nominations)
• Kerry-Anne Kennerly's morning show
• Anyone who watches "The Spirit of Diana"
• Channel Nine's "A Current Affair"
• Rollan McCleary (previously University of Queensland)
• Channel 10's Big Brother
• Documentary "Walking with Cavemen"
• ABC TV (for "Creature Features") (2 nominations)
• Phone Shield
• ABC National Radio (for "The Spirit of Things")
• The TGA (Therapeutic Good Administration)
• Pan Pharmaceuticals (and related) (3 nominations)
• Australian Taxation Office
• Elle MacPherson
• Quadruple Nomination (re Acupuncture)
• George W Bush
• Wyld for Men & Wyld for Women (on Bert Newton Show)
• The Prince of Wales and the House of Lords
• Channel 7 for "Meet My Folks"
• Three Commercial TV Channels (for "miracle")
• Dymocks Booksellers (Tuggeranong)
• U.S. Department of Justice
• Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf ("Comical Ali")
• Wild Weather (on ABC TV)
• Zalmen Rosen & Luis Nivelo (for their "talking fish")
• Channel Nine and Sixty Minutes (2 nominations)
• A Fence in Coogee / "Our Religious Brethren"
• Colin Campbell (Gardening Australia)
• The Citizens of Federal
• Channel 10 (for 'Crossing Over')
• John Edward (for 'Crossing Over')
• ABC TV Show Compass (2 nominations)
• Academy of applied psychic technology and techniques (2 nominations)
• Sandra Cabot
• Dr David Joske and the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital
• The Raelian Movement (3 nominations)
• Sunday Times newspaper (Perth)
• Magna Wool Magnetic Blankets (on the Bert Newton Show) 2 nominations
• Bert Newton & The ACCC (for false advertising)
• ABC Television (for "The Planet of The Clones")
• Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS)
• Telstra (for advertising psychic/clairvoyant hotlines)

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2002 Nominations

The year 2002 winner is: Gentle Heal Pty Ltd - Read Barry Williams' Announcement made at the 2002 Convention held in Melbourne.

• Catalyst on ABC TV
  (5 Nominations: 1 for "Glycaemic Index", 3 for "Creationism", 1 for the "Yowie" story)
• Newton's Pharmacy & Gentle Heal (for homoeopathic vaccine)
• Russell Beckett (for "magic water", 3 nominations)
• John Edward for Crossing Over (3 nominations)
• Channel 10 for John Edward's Crossing Over
• Arena TV (on Foxtel) (3 nominations)
• The Bert Newton Show (3 nominations)
• Suncorp Metway Insurance (3 nominations)
• David Suzuki and SBS (2 nominations)
• Victor Zammit (2 nominations)
• West Australian Newspapers Ltd. (2 nominations)
• The Sunday Mail's "Body+Soul" liftout (2 nominations)
• 'New Woman' Magazine
• ABC News (for weeping statue story)
• Sunshine Coast's Radio 92.7 MIX-FM
• Nexus Magazine
• Dymocks Bookshops (for the "Left Behind" series)
• Cenovis Vitamin Company
• Channel 10 (and Angela Bishop)
• Channel 10 for "Did We Land On The Moon?
• Workers Educational Association of South Australia (WEA)
• ABC Radio & Robyn Welch for "intuitive medicine"
• Jodhi Packer's numerologist
• Professor Mike Archer
• Cadbury Schweppes
• Borders Books
• Helen Crompton
• Greg Chappell and friends
• The ANZ Bank
• Jodee Rich and Brad Keeling
• Steve Waugh (for superstitious clothing)
• Southern Cross University & University of Queensland
• ACP Publishing Pty Ltd
• The entire economics profession
• Qantas and Holden
• The Mercury Newspaper
• The West Australian Newspaper

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2001 Nominations

The year 2001 winner is: The Lutec "Free Energy Generator" - Read Barry Williams' Announcement made at the 2001 Convention held in Brisbane.

• John Christie and Lou Brits of Cairns (Lutec "Free Energy Generator")
• The "West Australian" newspaper
• Benny Hinn Ministries
• ABC Radio "Country Hour"
• Channel 7, for "CONFIRMATION: THE HARD EVIDENCE OF ALIENS AMONG US"
• Reg Fenn, Port Stephens naturopath
• Mr. Masaru Emoto, author of The Message from Water
• Management of Ellenbrook Estate, Perth
• Fairfield (Sydney) City Council
• The Directors of One.Tel
• David Frost (host of Beyond Belief)
• Mr Benjamin Maloney
• Australian Yowie Research
• Editors of The Australasian Journal of Integrative Medicine
• Channel Seven's "Today Tonight" (2 nominations)
• Medical Benefits Fund of Australia
• "Scream Test" on Channel 10 (2 nominations)
• Tom Wards ("International Clairvoyant")
• Editors of the Weekend Magazine published in the West Australian
• Dr. Tasman Walker (Answers in Genesis)

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2000 Nominations

The year 2000 winner is: Jasmuheen - Read Barry Williams' Announcement made at the 2000 Skeptics Convention in Sydney.

• bioshield.com.au
• 'Mind Body Spirit' festival
• Channel 9 Small Business Show
• NSW Government (for banning PVC at the Olympics)
• Uri Geller (for psychically stalling the Olympic torch) - Two nominations
• National Science and Technology Museum in Canberra (the Questacon shop)
• Channel 7 (for the "Psychic Sphere")
• Mark Philippoussis and the Australian Davis Cup team
• Jasmuheen

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1999 Nominations

The 1999 winner is: Mike Willesee - Read Barry Williams' Announcement made at the 1999 Skeptics Convention in Adelaide.

• Channel Seven's "Today Tonight"
• Mike Willesee
• Queensland Community Benefit Gaming Fund
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation
• Charissa Smith (Veterinarian)
• The Australian Democrats
• Pat Cash
• Reverend Andrew Nutter
• Dr. Sandra Cabot (author of The Liver Cleansing Diet)

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1998 Nominations

The 1998 winner is: Southern Cross University. Read Barry Williams' Announcement made at the 1998 Skeptics Convention in Canberra.

• Mr. Ronnie Burns
• The "Millennium Bug" Panic Merchants
• Parliamentarian Ms. Franca Arena
• Woman's Day and New Idea magazines
• Ann Ann the Extraordinaire
• La Trobe University
• Cobar Town Council
• Jean McLean, Victorian State MP
• Ministry of Education
• "The Collective Media"
• Diana Spencer's Psychic Advisor

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1997 Nominations

The 1997 winner is: Dr. Viera Scheibner. Read Barry Williams' Announcement made at the 1997 Skeptics Convention in Newcastle.

• 'Dr' Viera Scheibner
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation
• Grand United Health Fund
• Reverse Speech Enterprises
• Victorian Department of Education
• Michael Crichton (Support Nomination)
• The Lateral Concepts Group
• The Raelians

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Other winners

• 1992 - Allen S Roberts