Are You Ready for April Fool's?

Are you ready for April Fools?
by Grunty McBunty, Sports

I’m not. My buddies and my kids always try to pull one over on me. And they usually succeed. (My wife once convinced me that I’d signed a prenup giving her 80% of my assets.) I’m not the brightest bulb in the box.

However, I’m always looking for good ideas. If you’ve got a good hoax planned, let me know about it (after the fact, of course). Leave your comment below.

Otherwise, here’s a sprinkling of some of the best April Fool’s Day pranks in history: 


1.  The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest of 1957. A British news show broadcast a story about a bumper crop of spaghetti in Switzerland. Their phony video footage of people pulling pasta off tree branches had hordes of callers inquiring about how to grow a spaghetti tree.
2. The Taco Liberty Bell of 1996. A full-page ad appearing in six major U.S. newspapers announced that Taco Bell had purchased the historic Liberty Bell, renaming it as “Taco Liberty Bell.” Thousands of irate citizens hounded Philadelphia’s National Park Service until Taco Bell fessed up to the hoax.
3. The Left-Handed Whopper of 1998. Not to be outdone by Taco Bell, Burger King introduced the “left-handed Whopper” to their menu. Ads claimed the new Whopper included all the original ingredients but rotated the condiments 180 degrees to benefit America’s left-handed citizens. Burger Kings everywhere were inundated with requests for the special burger as well as demands for a right-handed burger.
4. The Loch Ness Monster Corpse of 1972. A British zoo employee played a prank by tossing a dead 15-foot-long bull elephant seal into Loch Ness where it was discovered by his colleagues and made national headlines within hours.
5. The Eruption of Mt. Edgecombe, 1974. Terrified Alaskan residents woke up to black smoke spewing from Mt. Edgecombe, a long-dormant volcano. The Coast Guard pilot sent to investigate the matter found an enormous pile of tires burning inside the crater with the words “April Fool” painted nearby.
6. Drunk Driving on the Internet, 1994. An article described Congressional bill SB 040194 that would make it illegal to drink alcohol or discuss sexual matters on the “Information Highway.” Passage of the bill was felt to be certain because "What politician wants to come out and support drunkenness and computer sex?"
7. The Predictions of Jonathan Swift, 1708. Masquerading as an astrologer, Jonathan Swift predicted the death of a famous rival astrologer, John Partridge. Swift released a pamphlet confirming Partridge’s death the following day. People who saw Partridge that day thought they were seeing a ghost or a doppelganger. Partridge could not convince anyone he was actually alive.
8. The Great Comic Strip Switcheroonie of 1997. Fans of the funnies found their favorite comics in all the wrong places when 46 artists conspired to take over each other’s strips for the day. Garfield’s artist took over Blondie, Dilbert entered into Family Circus and everyone got confused.
9. Smellovision of 1965. A BBC interview with a London professor introduced “smellovision” -– technology that allowed viewers to experience the odors on their TV screen. A number of viewers called in to confirm that they could indeed smell the onions and coffee in the BBC’s demonstration.
10. Nixon for President, 1992. NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” program broadcast Richard Nixon’s decision to run for president under the slogan: "I didn't do anything wrong, and I won't do it again." NPR was flooded with outraged phone calls. The phony audio clips were delivered by impersonator Rich Little.

Read more from the museum of hoaxes.