Top April Fool's Day Hoaxes

[Lionel Mandrake]

The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest
1957: The respected BBC news show Panorama announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. Huge numbers of viewers were taken in. Many called the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC diplomatically replied, "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."

The Taco Liberty Bell
1996: The Taco Bell Corporation announced it had bought the Liberty Bell and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called the National Historic Park in Philadelphia where the bell was housed to express their anger. Their nerves were only calmed when Taco Bell revealed, a few hours later, that it was all a practical joke. The best line of the day came when White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale. Thinking on his feet, he responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold. It would now be known, he said, as the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.

San Serriffe
1977: The British newspaper The Guardian published a special seven-page supplement devoted to San Serriffe, a small republic said to consist of several semi-colon-shaped islands located in the Indian Ocean. A series of articles affectionately described the geography and culture of this obscure nation. Its two main islands were named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse. Its capital was Bodoni, and its leader was General Pica. The Guardian's phones rang all day as readers sought more information about the idyllic holiday spot. Only a few noticed that everything about the island was named after printer's terminology. The success of this hoax is widely credited with launching the enthusiasm for April Foolery that gripped the British tabloids in subsequent decades.

Read more: http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/P0/

[tammywammy]

1. "Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial"

lol

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Oh my god, those are hilarious!

San Serriffe???

:rofl:

[lazarus]

3. the Spaghetti Harvest

is my favourite. Along with the flying penguins.

[MiddleFingerMom]

4. I had a slight relapse...

.
...and spent an overnight in the hospital. Was processing out
April Fool's Day.
.
Haven't been big into pranks in many years, and the best I could
think of was that I would sign and date paperwork and, out loud I
would say, "Ap-ril first,two thou-sand and eight" and immediately
pass it back.
.
They ALL said, "No... it's two thousand and... whuh?"
.
And I had them.
.
They all seemed to like it -- not a single one had been pranked at
ALL yet that day (no matter how lamely).
.
I'm so easily self-abused.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Like PeeWee Herman hitting the curb with his bicycle, tumbling
over the handlebars, and popping RIGHT back up, I am saying to
you now, in my best PeeWee Herman voice (about the above
alleged Freudian slip):
.
"I meant to do that".
.
Or, they asked as the confusion and paranoia reached critical
mass... did he mean it that WAY?
.