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LA
Highways Close for Repairs
In
1987 a Los Angeles disc jockey announced that on April 8 the
LA highway system would be shut down for repairs for an
entire month. This was alarming news in LA where it's
necessary to use the highway to get almost anywhere. The
radio station immediately received hundreds of frantic calls
in response to the announcement, and the California Highway
Patrol reported that they were also flooded with calls
throughout the day. The station later admitted that it was
stunned by the intensity of the public reaction to the hoax.
A representative from the California Department of
Transportation called the station's managers to share their
opinion of the prank. Reportedly "they didn't think it was
very funny."
Augusta National Goes Public
The
May 1990 issue of Golf magazine had good news for
golf enthusiasts. It reported that Augusta National, the
elite private golf course where the Masters tournament is
held, would begin allowing public access to its course at
certain times. As a result of this report, both Augusta
National and Golf magazine received hundreds of calls
from eager golfers inquiring about playing privileges. But
the report was an April fool's joke, despite its placement
in the May issue. Golf magazine was forced to publish
a retraction, reaffirming that Augusta National was still a
private club open only to members and guests.
LA
Highways Close for Repairs
In
1987 a Los Angeles disc jockey announced that on April 8 the
LA highway system would be shut down for repairs for an
entire month. This was alarming news in LA where it's
necessary to use the highway to get almost anywhere. The
radio station immediately received hundreds of frantic calls
in response to the announcement, and the California Highway
Patrol reported that they were also flooded with calls
throughout the day. The station later admitted that it was
stunned by the intensity of the public reaction to the hoax.
A representative from the California Department of
Transportation called the station's managers to share their
opinion of the prank. Reportedly "they didn't think it was
very funny."
Eiffel Tower Moves
The
Parisien stunned French citizens in 1986 when it
reported that an agreement had been signed to dismantle the
Eiffle Tower. The international symbol of French culture
would then be reconstructed in the new Euro Disney theme
park going up east of Paris. In the space where the Tower
used to stand, a 35,000 seat stadium would be built for use
during the 1992 Olympic Games
Tomb of Socrates Found
In
1995 the Greek Ministry of Culture announced that during
excavation for the Athens metro system, archaeologists had
uncovered what they believed to be the tomb of Socrates near
the base of the Acropolis. A vase containing traces of
hemlock (the poison used to kill socrates) and a piece of
leather dating from between 400 and 390 BC were found in the
tomb. The news agency Agence France-Presse
immediately issued a release about the story. What it didn't
realize was that the Greek Ministry was joking, forcing the
news agency to issue an embarrassed retraction a few hours
later
Chunnel Blunder
In
1990 the News of the World reported that the Chunnel
project, which was already suffering from huge cost
overruns, would face another big additional expense caused
by a colossal engineering blunder. Apparently the two halves
of the tunnel, being built simultaneously from the coasts of
France and England, would miss each other by 14 feet. The
error was attributed to the fact that French engineers had
insisted on using metric specifications in their blueprints.
The mistake would reportedly cost $14 billion to fix.
Boston Globe Price Cut
Readers of the Boston Morning Globe in 1915 could
have purchased their papers for half the cost on April
Fool's Day, if they had been alert. The price listed on the
front page had been lowered from "Two Cents Per Copy" to
"One Cent." But almost 60,000 copies of the paper were sold
before anyone noticed the unannounced price change. When the
management of the Globe found out about the change,
they were just as surprised as everyone else. The new price
turned out to be the responsibility of a mischievous
production worker who had surreptitiously inserted the lower
value at the last minute as the paper went to print.
Providence Closes for the Day
Carolyn Fox, a disc jockey for WHJY in Providence, Rhode
Island, announced in 1986 that the 'Providence Labor Action
Relations Board Committee' had decided to close the city for
the day. She gave out a number for listeners to call for
more information. The number was that of a rival station,
WPRO-AM. Reportedly hundreds of people called WPRO, as well
as City Hall and the police. Even more called into their
offices to see if they had to go into work. WHJY management
later explained that it had never imagined its joke would
have such a dramatic impact on the city
Soy
Bomb Lands Record Contract
Viewers of the February 1998 broadcast of the Grammys were
surprised when a semi-naked man with the word 'Soy Bomb'
scrawled on his chest danced out onto the stage during Bob
Dylan's solo performance. The man (who was definitely not
supposed to be there) was quickly escorted away by security
guards. But a few months later, on April 1, Rhino Records
proudly announced that it had signed Soy Bomb (as he was now
known) to a two-year, six-album recording contract. Soy
Bomb's first album would include covers of popular classics
such as 'Dancing Machine' and 'You Dropped a Bomb on Me.' A
spokesman for Rhino Records commented that they had been
moved to offer Soy Bomb a contract because the experience of
watching him dance had been for them "kind of like
when you eat too many Whoppers and you feel a little
nauseous,
but you're so happy you ate them."
Virgin Cola's Blue Cans
In
1996 Virgin Cola announced that in the interest of consumer
safety it had integrated a new technology into its cans.
When the cola passed its sell-by date, the liquid would
react with the metal in the can, turning the can itself
bright blue. Virgin warned that consumers should therefore
avoid purchasing all blue cans. The joke was that Pepsi had
recently unveiled its newly designed cans. They were bright
blue
The
British Postal Address Turnabout
In
1977 the BBC gave airtime to Tom Jackson, General Secretary
of the British Union of Post Office Workers. Mr. Jackson was
up in arms about a recent proposal that the British mail
adopt the German method of addressing envelopes in which the
house number is written after the name of the road, not
before it (i.e. Downing Street 10, instead of 10 Downing
Street). Jackson spoke at great length about the enormous
burden this change would place upon postal employees,
insisting that "Postal workers would be furious because it
would turn upside-down the way we have learned to sort." His
comments elicited an immediate reaction from the audience,
many of whom phoned up to voice their support for Jackson's
campaign. What the audience didn't realize was that there
were no plans to change the way the British addressed their
mail. Mr. Jackson's diatribe was an elaborate April Fool's
Day joke.
Maradona Joins Soviet Soccer Team
In
1988 the Soviet newspaper Izvestia reported that the
world-renowned Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona was in
negotiations to join the Moscow Spartaks. The Spartaks were
to pay him $6 million to play on their struggling team.
Izvestia later admitted that the story was an April
Fool's day joke, but only after the news was disseminated by
the Associated Press, which then had to publish a
red-faced retraction. The AP had believed the story because
it was the first time in modern memory that a Soviet
newspaper had published an April Fool's day hoax. The sudden
display of humor was attributed to Mikhail Gorbachev's
policy of glasnost, or openness.
Diamond-Encrusted Grenades
During the 1990s stories of the ruthlessness of Russian
gangsters became increasingly prevalent in the news, but
apparently just because the gangsters were ruthless, that
didn't mean they weren't fashion conscious. In 1996
Itar-Tass announced that a military factory had begun
manufacturing diamond-encrusted grenades, which it was
selling to Russian gangsters concerned about dispatching
their enemies with style. "The use of such a grenade will
leave your one-time rival in a sea of beautiful sparkling
gems rather than in a pool of blood," the article noted
Viagra for Hamsters
In
2000 The Independent reported that Florida
researchers had developed a Viagra-like pill to treat
sexually frustrated pets, including hamsters. Veterinarians
were said to have greeted the news with derision, but the
article pointed out that there are few things as sad as a
pet suffering from feelings of sexual inadequacy, noting
that "It's not unknown for a guinea pig to sit in its cage
thinking, 'I haven't had sex for months. Am I so
unattractive?'." Owners were instructed to simply grind the
pills up and sprinkle them in the pet's food. Laying some
newspaper down on the floor once the pills began to take
effect was also advised. The pills were to be marketed under
the brand name Feralmone.
Kokomo Police Cut Costs
In
1959 the Kokomo Tribune, based in Indiana, announced
that the city police had devised a plan to cut costs and
save money. According to this plan, the police station would
close each night from 6 pm to 6 am An answering machine
would record all calls made to the station during this time,
and these calls would be screened by an officer in the
morning. The police reportedly anticipated that the
screening process would save the city a great deal of money,
since many of the calls would be old by the morning and
would not need to be answered. A spokesman for the police
admitted that "there will be a problem on what to do in the
case of a woman who calls in and says her husband has
threatened to shoot her or some member of the family." But
in such a situation, the spokesman explained, "We will check
the hospitals and the coroner, and if they don't have any
record of any trouble, then we will know that nothing
happened."
Killer Bees Attack Arizona
In
1994 residents of Glendale and Peoria, Arizona woke to find
yellow fliers posted around their neighborhoods warning them
of "Operation Killer Bees." Apparently there was to be
widespread aerial spraying later that day to eradicate a
killer bee population that had made its way into the area.
Residents were warned to stay indoors from 9 am until 2:30
pm. The phone numbers of local television and radio stations
were provided. On the bottom of the flier the name of an
official government agency was listed: Arizona Pest Removal
Information Line (For Outside Operations Listings). The
first letters of this agency spelled out "April Fool." Few
people got the joke. Radio and television stations received
numerous calls, as did the Arizona Agriculture Department.
Many worried residents stayed inside all day, anxiously
watching out their windows for the pest-control planes to
fly overhead.
Telepathic Email
The
April 1999 edition of Red Herring Magazine included
an article about a revolutionary new technology that allowed
users to compose and send email telepathically. The company
developing this technology was Tidal Wave Communications,
led by Yuri Maldini, a computer genius from Estonia. Mr.
Maldini claimed that he had developed the technology from
the encrypted communications systems he had helped the army
put in place during the Gulf War. At the end of the article
the reporter recalled a moment when he asked Mr. Maldini how
big the market for such a product might be: "Mr. Maldini
falls silent. He stares vacantly for several moments out his
office window and then says, 'I just sent you an email with
my answer.' Upon returning to our office, we find the
response waiting: 'It's going to be huge,' reads the email.
'Simply huge.'" Red Herring received numerous letters from
readers admitting they had been fooled by the article.
Asterix Village Found
In
1993 London's Independent announced the discovery by
archaeologists of the 3000-year-old village of the cartoon
hero Asterix. The village was said to have been found at Le
Yaudet, near Lannion, France, in almost precisely the
location where Rene Goscinny, Asterix's creator, had placed
it in his books. The expedition was led by Professor Barry
Cunliffe, of Oxford University, and Dr. Patrick Galliou, of
the University of Brest. Supposedly the team found evidence
that the small village had never been occupied by Roman
forces. They also discovered Celtic coins printed with the
image of a wild boar (the favorite food of Asterix's friend
Obelix), as well as a large collection of rare Iron Age
menhirs (standing stones) "of the precise size favoured by
the indomitable Obelix whose job as a menhir delivery man
has added a certain academic weight to the books."
Belgium Divides
The
London Times reported in 1992 that formal
negotiations were underway to divide Belgium in half. The
Dutch-speaking north would join the Netherlands and the
French-speaking south would join France. An editorial in the
paper then lamented that, "The fun will go from that
favorite parlor game: Name five famous Belgians." The report
apparently fooled the British foreign office minister
Tristan Garel-Jones who almost went on a TV interview
prepared to discuss this "important" story. The Belgian
embassy also received numerous calls from journalists and
expatriate Belgians seeking to confirm the news. A rival
paper later criticized the prank, declaring that, "The
Times's effort could only be defined as funny if you find
the very notion of Belgium hilarious."
The
Origin of April Fool's Day
In
1983 the Associated Press reported that the mystery
of the origin of April Fool's Day had finally been solved.
Joseph Boskin, a History professor at Boston University, had
discovered that the celebration had begun during the Roman
empire when a court jester had boasted to Emperor
Constantine that the fools and jesters of the court could
rule the kingdom better than the Emperor could. In response,
Constantine had decreed that the court fools would be given
a chance to prove this boast, and he set aside one day of
the year upon which a fool would rule the kingdom. The first
year Constantine appointed a jester named Kugel as ruler,
and Kugel immediately decreed that only the absurd would be
allowed in the kingdom on that day. Therefore the tradition
of April Fools was born. News media throughout the country
reprinted the Associated Press story. But what the AP
reporter who had interviewed Professor Boskin for the story
hadn't realized was that Boskin was lying. Not a word of the
story was true, which Boskin admitted a few weeks later.
Boston University issued a statement apologizing for the
joke, and many papers published corrections.
The
Musendrophilus
In
1975 the famous naturalist David Attenborough reported on
BBC Radio 3 about a group of islands in the Pacific known as
the Sheba Islands. He played sound recordings of the
island's fauna, including a recording of an alleged
night-singing tree mouse called the Musendrophilus. He also
described a species whose webbed feet were prized by
inhabitants of the island as reeds for musical instruments.
Unfortunately, the night-singing tree mice were merely
products of Attenborough's imagination, perhaps inspired by
that old yarn about the Tree Squeaks, that North American
species which lives high in the trees and squeaks every time
the wind blows.
World to End Tomorrow
On
March 31, 1940 the Franklin Institute issued a press release
stating that the world would end the next day. The release
was picked up by radio station KYW which broadcast the
following message: "Your worst fears that the world will end
are confirmed by astronomers of Franklin Institute,
Philadelphia. Scientists predict that the world will end at
3 P.M. Eastern Standard Time tomorrow. This is no April Fool
joke. Confirmation can be obtained from Wagner Schlesinger,
director of the Fels Planetarium of this city." The public
reaction was immediate. Local authorities were flooded with
frantic phone calls. The panic only subsided after the
Franklin Institute assured people that it had made no such
prediction. The prankster responsible for the press release
turned out to be William Castellini, the Institute's press
agent. He had intended to use the fake release to publicize
an April 1st lecture at the institute titled "How Will the
World End?" Soon afterwards, the Institute dismissed
Castellini.
Great Cave Sell
On
one undetermined April 1 in the 1840s a story appeared in
the Boston Post announcing that a cave full of
treasure had been discovered beneath Boston Common. It had
supposedly been uncovered by workmen as they removed a tree
from the Common. As the tree fell, it revealed a stone
trap-door with a large iron ring set in it. Beneath the door
was a stone stairway that led to an underground cave. In
this cave lay piles of jewels, old coins, and weapons with
jeweled handles. As word of the discovery spread throughout
Boston, parties of excited curiosity-seekers began marching
out across the Common to view the treasure. A witness later
described the scene: "It was rainy, that 1st of April, the
Legislature was in session, and it was an animated scene
that the Common presented, roofed with umbrellas, sheltering
pilgrims on their way to the new-found sell. A procession of
grave legislators marched solemnly down under their green
gingham, while philosophers, archaeologists, numismatists,
antiquarians of all qualities, and the public generally paid
tribute to the Post's ingenuity." Of course, the Common was
empty of all jewel-bearing caverns, as the crowd of treasure
seekers eventually discovered to its disappointment
The
Venetian Horse Hoax
The
citizens of Venice woke on the morning of April 1, 1919 to
find piles of horse manure deposited throughout the Piazza
San Marco, as if a procession of horses had gone through
there during the night. This was extremely unusual, since
the Piazza is surrounded by canals and not easily accessible
to horses. The manure turned out to be the work of the
infamous British prankster Horace de Vere Cole, who was
honeymooning in Venice. He had transported a load of manure
over from the mainland the night before with the help of a
gondolier and had then deposited small piles of it
throughout the Piazza. Perhaps he should have been paying
more attention to his wife while on honeymoon because,
evidently tired by his constant hijinks, she divorced him a
few years later.
PETA's Tournament of Sleeping Fish
In
2000 the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
warned that it planned to sabotage the bass fishing
tournament in East Texas's Lake Palestine by releasing
tranquilizers into the lake before the tournament. Their
announcement stated that "this year, the fish will be
napping, not nibbling." State officials took the threat
seriously and stationed rangers around the lake in order to
stop any tranquilizer-toting PETA activists from drugging
the fish, and numerous newspapers reported the threat.
Eventually PETA admitted that it had been joking.
Moscow's Second Subway
In
1992 the Moskovskaya Pravda announced that the winds of
capitalism transforming Russia would bring further changes
for the residents of Moscow. Apparently plans had been
finalized to build a new Moscow subway system. Of course,
there was nothing wrong with the city's current subway. But
in the spirit of capitalism, the second system would be
built to promote "the interests of competition."
The
Swiss Spaghetti Harvest
In
1957 the respected BBC news show Panorama announced
that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual
elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers
were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this
announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands
of spaghetti down from trees. Huge numbers of viewers were
taken in, and many called up wanting to know how they could
grow their own spaghetti trees. To this question, the BBC
diplomatically replied that they should "place a sprig of
spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."
Instant Color TV
In
1962 there was only one tv channel in Sweden, and it
broadcast in black and white. The station's technical
expert, Kjell Stensson, appeared on the news to announce
that thanks to a newly developed technology, all viewers
could now quickly and easily convert their existing sets to
display color reception. All they had to do was pull a nylon
stocking over their tv screen, and they would begin to see
their favorite shows in color. Stensson then proceeded to
demonstrate the process. Reportedly, hundreds of thousands
of people, out of the population of seven million, were
taken in. Actual color tv transmission only commenced in
Sweden on April 1, 1970.
The
Taco Liberty Bell
In
1996 the Taco Bell Corporation announced that it had bought
the Liberty Bell from the federal government and was
renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged
citizens called up the National Historic Park in
Philadelphia where the bell is housed to express their
anger. Their nerves were only calmed when Taco Bell revealed
that it was all a practical joke a few hours later. The best
line inspired by the affair came when White House press
secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale, and he
responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold,
though to a different corporation, and would now be known as
the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial
San
Serriffe
In
1977 the British newspaper The Guardian published a
special seven-page supplement in honor of the tenth
anniversary of San Serriffe, a small republic located in the
Indian Ocean consisting of several semi-colon-shaped
islands. A series of articles affectionately described the
geography and culture of this obscure nation. Its two main
islands were named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse. Its
capital was Bodoni, and its leader was General Pica. The
Guardian's phones rang all day as readers sought more
information about the idyllic holiday spot. Few noticed that
everything about the island was named after printer's
terminology. The success of this hoax is widely credited
with launching the enthusiasm for April Foolery that then
gripped the British tabloids in the following decades
Nixon for President
In
1992 National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation
program announced that Richard Nixon, in a surprise move,
was running for President again. His new campaign slogan
was, "I didn't do anything wrong, and I won't do it again."
Accompanying this announcement were audio clips of Nixon
delivering his candidacy speech. Listeners responded
viscerally to the announcement, flooding the show with calls
expressing shock and outrage. Only during the second half of
the show did the host John Hockenberry reveal that the
announcement was a practical joke. Nixon's voice was
impersonated by comedian Rich Little.
The
Left-Handed Whopper
In
1998 Burger King published a full page advertisement in
USA Today announcing the introduction of a new item to
their menu: a "Left-Handed Whopper" specially designed for
the 32 million left-handed Americans. According to the
advertisement, the new whopper included the same ingredients
as the original Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty,
etc.), but all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for
the benefit of their left-handed customers. The following
day Burger King issued a follow-up release revealing that
although the Left-Handed Whopper was a hoax, thousands of
customers had gone into restaurants to request the new
sandwich. Simultaneously, according to the press release,
"many others requested their own 'right handed' version."
Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity
In
1976 the British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC
Radio 2 that at 9:47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical
event was going to occur that listeners could experience in
their very own homes. The planet Pluto would pass behind
Jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational alignment that
would counteract and lessen the Earth's own gravity. Moore
told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the
exact moment that this planetary alignment occurred, they
would experience a strange floating sensation. When 9:47 AM
arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds of phone calls from
listeners claiming to have felt the sensation. One woman
even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from
their chairs and floated around the room |
