== Not a hoax == 

 This article was the subject of the recent WikiWorld, so I came to take a look.  I was rather surprised to see it tagged as a hoax article; however, after only a minute of Googling, i came to the conclusion that it is real.  For example, here's a New York Times article from 2004: .  There's also some BBC links:  .    The Times article mentions the corporate sponsorship.   

 In any case, this article could be better referenced.  I haven't thoroughly gone over the article to check the details.  But the person alleging hoax is plainly mistaken.  Therefore I have removed the tag.