There was once a golden age of April fool’s day pranks – of spaghetti harvests and newly discovered punctuation-shaped islands of San Serriffe. But are they still funny? Tell us what you think.
Loading…
Today the tradition of April fool pranks remains rich, but the media stunts of yesteryear are now joined by a plethora of advertising pranks by big brands.
In 1957, the BBC’s Panorama reported that Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop – accompanied by footage of spaghetti being “harvested from trees”. The BBC issued a statement revealing the joke after hundreds of people called in, some asking where they could buy a spaghetti plant.
In 1977 the Guardian published a seven-page supplement on the islands of San Serriffe, a series of colon-shaped islands in the Indian Ocean. Its two main islands were Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse. The Guardian’s phones rang off the hook all day by readers looking for more information on the idyllic holidaying spot.
The Guardian hoax has been credited with launching the craze in the media for April fool pranks – and the tradition continues to this day.
Scotland’s referendum has been a major focus for the UK press, with the Guardian reporting that drivers north of the border will be forced to switch to driving on the right in the event of an independent Scotland, the Telegraph reporting that Alex Salmond’s head could replace the Queen’s on the pound coin and the Independent reporting that the UN is drawing up plans for a peacekeeping mission to Scotland.
Alongside these, the marketeers have also been in full flow. From Virgin Trains to Specsavers, the British public has been inundated with April fool jokes – with varying degrees of hilarity.
But the April fool advert seems to work – the Google Maps tweet that it is looking to hire a “Pokemon Master” has been retweeted almost 1,600 times, Domino’s “edible pizzabox” has been retweeted around 800 times and Virgin Trains’ first tweet (and there were many) about the renamed “Wolverine” train station was retweeted more than 300 times.
What do you think were the best and worst April fool’s day pranks? Take the survey above.