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Best April Fool’s Day Hoaxes of All-Time

There have been some amazing hoaxes pulled off on April 1st, duping thousands and thousands of individuals.

In 2005, Google said it was branching out with a new drink: Google Gulp, claiming it would help “to achieve maximum optimization of your soon-to-be-grateful cerebral cortex.” The tech giant is active on April Fool’s, promoting bogus Google products including Google Romance, Gmail Paper and Google Voice for Pets.

Last year, Cottonelle tweeted that it was introducing left-handed toilet paper for southpaws out there, but only a few responded. This wasn’t the case in 1973 wheen Johnny Carson cracked a joke about a toilet paper shortage prompting worried Americans to immediately stock up.

Here is a short list of some classics:

Taco Bell purchases the 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.

Sidd Finch: SI reveals pitcher who throws 168 mph

1985: Sports Illustrated profiled a new rookie pitcher, Sidd Finch, who was slated to pitch for the New York Mets and could pitch 65 mph faster than the record. He had never played baseball, learning the “art of the pitch” in a Tibetan monastery.

Nixon for President

1992: NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” announced Richard Nixon would run for president again proclaiming: “I didn’t do anything wrong, and I won’t do it again.” There audio clips of Nixon delivering his candidacy speech which were revealed to be an impersonation by comedian Rich Little.

The Left Handed Whopper

1998: Burger King announced the left hand version of their famous sandwich in the USA Today, a full page ad. This “new” whopper was specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans, with all the same ingredients but all of the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for the benefit of their left-handed customers.

Color TV Conversion

1962: In Sweden, a station ‘technical expert’ Kjell Stensson appeared on air to announce a new technology which allowed viewers to convert their black and white televisions to a color reception. The viewers were instructed to pull a nylon stocking over the TV screen.

BBC's amazing Swiss Spaghetti harvest

BBC’s amazing Swiss Spaghetti harvest

Swiss spaghetti harvest

1957: BBC announced that the elimination of horrible spaghetti weevil had resulted in a bumper spaghetti crop in Sweden. They televised footage of peasants pulling strands of spaghetti off of trees. Viewers immediately called BBC wanting to know how to get a spaghetti tree.

26 Day Marathon

1981: The Daily Mail reported on a confused Japanese long distance runner, Kimo Nakajimi, who misunderstood the rules for the London Marathon. Due to a translation error, he thought he had to run for 26 days not 26 miles. There were various reported sightings of the runner, but no one seemed able to stop him.

WWI: Bombs Away!

1915: In the midst of World War I, a French aviator flew over a German camp and dropped what appeared to be a huge bomb. The German soldiers immediately scattered in all directions, but no explosion followed. After some time, the soldiers crept back and gingerly approached the bomb. They discovered it was actually a large football with a note tied to it that read, “April Fool!”


About the author:

Brandon detoured from pursuing a degree in history but never lost his love of knowledge embracing the famous George Santayana quote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Brandon currently writes the National Comic Book Examiner, the Tampa Bay Comic Book Examiner as well as the National American history Examiner.

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About the Author

- Writer and Co-Founder of The Global Dispatch, Brandon has been covering news, offering commentary for years, beginning professionally in 2003 on Crazed Fanboy before expanding into other blogs and sites. Appearing on several radio shows, Brandon has hosted Dispatch Radio, written his first novel (The Rise of the Templar) and completed the three years Global University program in Ministerial Studies to be a pastor. To Contact Brandon email [email protected] ATTN: BRANDON

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