As much as you would like to convince yourself that you are too mature to celebrate April Fool’s Day, you aren’t: no one is. In fact, here is a list of the best April Fool’s Jokes of all time, most of them done by people who technically should be way more “mature” than that.
1. Taco Liberty Bell: In 1996, Taco Bell bought a full-page ad in six major newspapers announcing that it bought the Liberty Bell and was renaming it the “Taco Liberty Bell.” When the White House press secretary was asked about it, he continued the joke, saying that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold and would be renamed the “Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.” After a lot of outrage over one of the greatest pranks ever, Taco Bell responded by donating $50,000 towards preservation of the Liberty Bell.
2. Alabama changes the value of Pi: In 1998, an article claimed that Alabama State Legislature voted to change the value of pi to from 3.14159 to 3.0 because it was easier to use. Days later hundreds of enraged people called the Alabama legislature to protest their new legislation.
3. Left-Handed Whopper: USA Today printed a full page advertisement of a “Left-Handed Whopper” to cater to the lefties of the world. It would include the exact same condiments, but would be rotated 180 degrees so the left-handed consumers could enjoy it the same way that right-handers did. The joke was so successful that thousands of people came into Burger King requesting their new sandwich, as well as asking for the old “righty” one.
4. Metric time: Australia’s “This Day Tonight” announced in 1975 that they would be converting to metric time. There would be 100 seconds in a minute, 100 minutes in an hour and 20 hours in a day. The broadcast even featured words of support to this change by the Deputy Premier. Hundreds of callers called in outrage, some demanding to know how to convert their old clocks to this new metric time.
5. Drunk Driving on the Internet: In 1994, PC Computing magazine reported on a new bill being passed in Congress that would make it illegal to use the Internet when drunk, and to discuss sexual content over a public server. According to the article, it wouldn’t get that much opposition due to the stigma attached to using the Internet drunk and participating in computer sex. So many phone calls came into Congress that Edward Kennedy’s office had to release an official denial of the rumor.
6. Food Machine: In 1878, the New York Graphic convinced those mesmerized by the abilities of Thomas Edison after he invented the phonograph that he invented a machine that would transform ground soil into whatever food you desired. Newspapers around the country copied the article, praising the limitless abilities of Thomas Edison.
7. Sleeping fish: In 2000, PETA issued a statement that they would release tranquilizers in East Texas waters before a major bass fishing tournament to prevent the fish from being caught in the tournament. State officials took the threat so seriously they stationed a whole team around the river to prevent any tranquilizing of the fish.
8. Sidd Finch: A 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated announced that the newest member of the Mets could pitch 168mph with perfect accuracy, despite the fact he had never played baseball before (the previous record was 103mph). After forming a whole story around this fake Sidd Finch, an orphan who simply walked into spring training, Sports Illustrated received over 2000 letters responding to the article. They kept the prank going until April 15th, when they finally revealed it was a joke.
9. All LA Highways Closed for Repair: In 1987, a DJ on a radio station announced that the LA highways would all be shutdown for a month for repairs. Because highways are necessary to go basically anywhere in LA, hundreds of angry callers called both the radio station as well as the California Highway Patrol to protest the decision.
10. Freewheelz: Esquire magazine published an article in 2000 to promote a new company called Freewheelz. The company said they would provide customers with free cars as long as drivers agreed to large ads on the outside of their car, radio advertisements inside their car, drive 300 miles per week, and answer a 600 question survey. In addition, applicants also had to send in a stool sample, tax returns, video rental receipts and various other pieces of invasive information. Not only did Esquire get hundreds of calls about how to sign up, but also CEOs of other real companies with a similar business plan fell for the trick and freaked out over the new competition.
The moral of the story is that even the “real world” never gets too serious– and you can never be too old to appreciate a great April Fool’s Joke.
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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Duke chapter.