For those who love to play pranks, April 1 is a dream day of light-hearted fun. We look back on some of our favourite April Fool’s pranks from the past… do you remember any of them?
April Fool’s Day traditions date back as far as medieval times, but more recently, some of our favourite brands have been getting in on the act. We’ve picked out a few of our favourites here. Don’t worry, these ones are silly rather than mean, but they did make us laugh…
Spaghetti Tree
Who could forget the 1957 April Fool’s Day prank from the BBC which featured the “harvesting of spaghetti”. While some didn’t see the funny side, especially as it was narrated by distinguished broadcaster Richard Dimbleby, it is certainly one of the most talked about hoaxes of all time.
A license to print money
Did any one catch this one from Paypal back in 2018? See if you can spot the prank in this tweet…
You can now Print Money directly from your phone. Launching on the PayPal app. Will you be using it? pic.twitter.com/XiidEwV3La
— PayPal UK (@PayPalUK) April 1, 2018
Yep, you guessed it. While I’m sure this would be a useful feature for some, it’s probably a little hard to do with current technology.
Smartphones are good. But they’re not that good!
Flapenergy
Sir Richard Branson is a very smart man, but that doesn’t mean he’s above the odd April Fool’s Day prank.
Just take a look at this (exceptionally well produced) effort Virgin Atlantic released in 2017.
Seems like a perfectly reasonable technological advancement to me. I can’t think why no one’s done it before!
The polite horn
And on the subject of technological advancements, here’s one our Canadian readers might appreciate.
In 2019, Honda Canada came up with the perfect solution to aggressive road interactions: a horn that let’s everyone know you’re annoyed, but in a quieter, much more passive-aggressive way.
Personally, I can’t think of anything more Canadian than this! Plus, I’m pretty sure it would make me more considerate of other road users.
The “snears”
Finally, here’s Walt Disney World’s most amusing effort, also from 2019: the “snears”.
(It’s not a spelling error; it’s a combination of the words “snacks” and “ears”).
To be honest, I’ve seen crazier things at Walt Disney World…
Get your #Snears on! Check out the latest innovation in #WaltDisneyWorld snacking, and tell us which snack you’re going to style your Snears with. 🍭 🍪 🍿 pic.twitter.com/0ZqPyyK8fe
— Walt Disney World (@WaltDisneyWorld) April 1, 2019
Over to you…
Have you been caught out with an eleborate April Fool’s Day joke, or heard about one that you wish you’d come up with yourself? Why not share the fun on our Facebook page?
Iain McDonald I am the Digital Content Editor at the “Friend”, making me responsible for managing the flow of interesting and entertaining content on the magazine’s website and social media channels.
