It is a lot easier to convince someone of something they want to believe than of something they don't.

When I read this, I nodded. But now you've got me wondering if I just want to believe you.

I laughed. But more seriously, I wonder if Bohannon's media experiment would have succeeded if you change a detail. E.g. if it was about something truly gross, like drinking curdled milk to lose weight. Journalists want to tell people what they want to hear, because people will tend to buy the paper that says what they are already thinking (weird, I know).

It's human nature that people are more skeptical about claims they don't like.

Imagine how mad the people in the study would be after they found out it was a sham. "I drank curdled milk for 3 weeks so you could get your big break!"

That's an interesting angle even for this study - how do the original participants feel about it I wonder? I'd guess some mixture of amused and cynical.