April Fools is the one day every year when it’s socially acceptable to poke fun at people by making them feel gullible.
April Fools is the one day every year when it’s socially acceptable to poke fun at people by making them feel gullible.
This year, not even U.S. presidential hopeful Mitt Romney was safe. While campaigning Sunday in Milwaukee, Romney’s staff brought him into the basement of a restaurant. Romney believed he was scheduled to speak, and his staff warned him that turnout was low. After Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan (who was in on the joke) introduced Romney to the sound of pre-recorded applause, the former Massachusetts governor emerged to an empty room.
Romney told Reuters his first thought was: “This is going to look really bad on the evening news.”
Other memorable pranks included the phony unveiling of Richard Branson’s Virgin Volcanic, which promised to take tourists to the centre of the earth via a vehicle that would dive down volcanoes and drill through the Earth’s crust. According to the gag website, seats on the maiden voyage would be reserved for Branson, Tom Hanks, Seth Green and Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas.
There was also Google’s Weather Control function, which allowed users to customize weather conditions and forecasts before being prompted with the message: “Please notice, after submitting it takes approximately 45 minutes until your weather changes take effect. Note: exercise caution when setting extremes.”
WestJet’s fake “childless cabin” initiative was also pretty funny. Check out the YouTube video.