I remember BMW doing a series of embarrassingly bad April Fool adverts a few years ago. Where something unlikely had ben invented by Dr Heinz Bleedingobviousanagram.
It was sad. Like an excited small child telling a very unfunny joke to a group of adults.
Nothing has come close to Panorama’s 1957 spaghetti harvest report.
The Telegraph one about US plans to invade Canada in 1940 was pretty good. A lovely reverse ferret, given that the plans were clearly true. All militaries always have plans for everything.
Harry Haddock's Ghost
This one was an absolute cracker for anyone following the whole saga:
As I read through the headlines on my news aggregator, I really do not know which ones are April Fools –
the BT Tower turbine,
Russia taking the Presidency of the Security Council,
the new person at the Arts Council aiming to promote enterprise and innovation,
Labour promising not to increase CGT,
Southend named as one of the best and worst towns in England,
Oxford Council considering selling inappropriate Biblical paintings,
Brexit helps Luxembourg thrive after abandoning Swiss-style secrecy
Arthur the cat
Strongbow cider has decided to release a fusion of Britain’s two favourite drinks, so you can now get builder’s tea cider in cans.
Paul, Somerset
I assumed the story about the CUP naming Charles King of France was one of these, but perhaps not.
Addolff
In todays’ clown world, no April Fools prank story could be so ridiculous it would trump the real ones.
Grikath
hmm… Some decent ones in the dutch news outlet..
Dutch Customs is introducing drug detection cats, as they’re more nimble when it comes to getting through the luggage.
Additionally they’re looking into the de-stressing effect petting them may have on the long queues, based on research done in cat-cafés.
A tulip that’s resistant to Tourists.
In the comments on that one the question whether they could be given self-defense capabilities to aid Amsterdam in dissuading the hordes of young brits coming there to piss up the place (that last bit actual real news…)
And a speed camera app is flogging an inflatable passenger to avoid fines in short-park zones and carpool lanes. Joke is old, but they’ve done it right.
Tim the Coder
Ex-president indicted on “charges of great severity, but no-one to know what they are”?
Ukraine is winning?
RAF to allow chest-binders?
I struggled to find any stories that aren/t April Fools in the paper these days. Clown World Triumphs.
Penseivat
Following Andrew C’s comment on April Fool reports on cars, several others stick in my mind. There was the report that British Leyland (remember them?) was going into partnership with Mothercare (remember them?) to produce a car with a built in rattle. More recently, it was reported that BMW was making all the people employed to fit indicators to their cars were going to be made redundant as drivers never used them anyway.
I assume next year it will be something like an electric car being driven from Lands End to John O’ Groats without a need to recharge.
decnine
“Nothing has come close to Panorama’s 1957 spaghetti harvest report.”
The old Tonight programme had some good ones. I recall one about the EEC metricating planting distances causing allotment holders to have to dig up all their strawberry plants and replant them at 15cm centres instead of 6″.
Is it possible to get snakebite n’ black in tins ? That’d be a real winner.
Sancho Panza
@Grikath on Amsterdam are prices that would make a New-Yorker blush not sufficient deterrent?
bloke in spain
The Telegraph one about US plans to invade Canada in 1940 was pretty good.
You missed there one about turning the BT(was PO)Tower into a windmill? Or was it sufficiently barking to convince you it was real, given the amount of barking ideas are being treated as real, these days?
Technically: The building was built for the windloads it was built for. The revolving restaurant as a revolving restaurant. You stick a 350′ fan on the side of it, it’ll be speed hump in the Tottenham Court Road.
bloke in spain
There/they’re/their !!!!
It’s writing Spanish all the time (a phonetic language) I’m losing my english.
And the small E on English. Because no-one else capitalises. Germans maybe? But they capitalise promiscuously. And are internationally recognised as weird.
dearieme
I noticed three contenders in the Telegraph. I plump for number 2 because as green stories go it’s not daft enough to be real.
(1) The abolition of Cumbria.
(2) The BT Tower windmill.
(3) Charles as King of England, France, and Ireland. (We’d have to call him the Ancient Pretender).
Bloke in North Dorset
From the German Embassy London Twatter feed:
“ To promote German language learning abroad, Germany is contemplating asking tourists to say a German word at border control.
The word is to be picked at random from a list prepared by linguistic specialists, including:
️ Eichhörnchen
️ Quietscheentchen
️ Gewürzgurke”
Chris Miller
I’ve been looking for the April Fool on Spud’s site, but nothing stands out as more egregiously stupid than everything else.
Chris Miller
Global (radio) news had an item about a fire in a Pennsylvania chocolate factory, where a woman was saved by falling into a vat of chocolate, which melted and put out the fire. I know this must be a fib, because the US (and certainly not Hershey’s) doesn’t produce any chocolate.
Grikath
@Sancho Well… In Disneyland be prepared to pay Disneyland prices..
But yeah.. The prices don’t seem to discourage packs of feral young brits to puke , piss, and make a general nuisance of themselves everywhere, usually stoned af, last time I had to be there.
And that was a weekday….
Given the way the ‘normal’ Wes is these days, maybe they’ve all given up April Fool’s as a losing game?
* news.
Stupid autocorrect
April Fool spoofs have been shown to be racist.
Or cultural appropriation.
I remember BMW doing a series of embarrassingly bad April Fool adverts a few years ago. Where something unlikely had ben invented by Dr Heinz Bleedingobviousanagram.
It was sad. Like an excited small child telling a very unfunny joke to a group of adults.
Nothing has come close to Panorama’s 1957 spaghetti harvest report.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8scpGwbvxvI
The Telegraph one about US plans to invade Canada in 1940 was pretty good. A lovely reverse ferret, given that the plans were clearly true. All militaries always have plans for everything.
This one was an absolute cracker for anyone following the whole saga:
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/royal-navy-landing-ship-to-support-scottish-ferry-crisis/
As I read through the headlines on my news aggregator, I really do not know which ones are April Fools –
the BT Tower turbine,
Russia taking the Presidency of the Security Council,
the new person at the Arts Council aiming to promote enterprise and innovation,
Labour promising not to increase CGT,
Southend named as one of the best and worst towns in England,
Oxford Council considering selling inappropriate Biblical paintings,
Brexit helps Luxembourg thrive after abandoning Swiss-style secrecy
Strongbow cider has decided to release a fusion of Britain’s two favourite drinks, so you can now get builder’s tea cider in cans.
I assumed the story about the CUP naming Charles King of France was one of these, but perhaps not.
In todays’ clown world, no April Fools prank story could be so ridiculous it would trump the real ones.
hmm… Some decent ones in the dutch news outlet..
Dutch Customs is introducing drug detection cats, as they’re more nimble when it comes to getting through the luggage.
Additionally they’re looking into the de-stressing effect petting them may have on the long queues, based on research done in cat-cafés.
A tulip that’s resistant to Tourists.
In the comments on that one the question whether they could be given self-defense capabilities to aid Amsterdam in dissuading the hordes of young brits coming there to piss up the place (that last bit actual real news…)
And a speed camera app is flogging an inflatable passenger to avoid fines in short-park zones and carpool lanes. Joke is old, but they’ve done it right.
Ex-president indicted on “charges of great severity, but no-one to know what they are”?
Ukraine is winning?
RAF to allow chest-binders?
I struggled to find any stories that aren/t April Fools in the paper these days. Clown World Triumphs.
Following Andrew C’s comment on April Fool reports on cars, several others stick in my mind. There was the report that British Leyland (remember them?) was going into partnership with Mothercare (remember them?) to produce a car with a built in rattle. More recently, it was reported that BMW was making all the people employed to fit indicators to their cars were going to be made redundant as drivers never used them anyway.
I assume next year it will be something like an electric car being driven from Lands End to John O’ Groats without a need to recharge.
“Nothing has come close to Panorama’s 1957 spaghetti harvest report.”
The old Tonight programme had some good ones. I recall one about the EEC metricating planting distances causing allotment holders to have to dig up all their strawberry plants and replant them at 15cm centres instead of 6″.
…and, to be fair, the Grauniad piece many years ago (1971!) on the island of San Seriffe was very nicely done.
https://static.guim.co.uk/ni/1454601868089/San-Serriffe-special-report.pdf
Arthur the Cat
Is it possible to get snakebite n’ black in tins ? That’d be a real winner.
@Grikath on Amsterdam are prices that would make a New-Yorker blush not sufficient deterrent?
The Telegraph one about US plans to invade Canada in 1940 was pretty good.
You missed there one about turning the BT(was PO)Tower into a windmill? Or was it sufficiently barking to convince you it was real, given the amount of barking ideas are being treated as real, these days?
Technically: The building was built for the windloads it was built for. The revolving restaurant as a revolving restaurant. You stick a 350′ fan on the side of it, it’ll be speed hump in the Tottenham Court Road.
There/they’re/their !!!!
It’s writing Spanish all the time (a phonetic language) I’m losing my english.
And the small E on English. Because no-one else capitalises. Germans maybe? But they capitalise promiscuously. And are internationally recognised as weird.
I noticed three contenders in the Telegraph. I plump for number 2 because as green stories go it’s not daft enough to be real.
(1) The abolition of Cumbria.
(2) The BT Tower windmill.
(3) Charles as King of England, France, and Ireland. (We’d have to call him the Ancient Pretender).
From the German Embassy London Twatter feed:
“ To promote German language learning abroad, Germany is contemplating asking tourists to say a German word at border control.
The word is to be picked at random from a list prepared by linguistic specialists, including:
️ Eichhörnchen
️ Quietscheentchen
️ Gewürzgurke”
I’ve been looking for the April Fool on Spud’s site, but nothing stands out as more egregiously stupid than everything else.
Global (radio) news had an item about a fire in a Pennsylvania chocolate factory, where a woman was saved by falling into a vat of chocolate, which melted and put out the fire. I know this must be a fib, because the US (and certainly not Hershey’s) doesn’t produce any chocolate.
@Sancho Well… In Disneyland be prepared to pay Disneyland prices..
But yeah.. The prices don’t seem to discourage packs of feral young brits to puke , piss, and make a general nuisance of themselves everywhere, usually stoned af, last time I had to be there.
And that was a weekday….
https://thepostmillennial.com/budweiser-celebrates-biological-male-dylan-mulvaneys-365-days-of-girlhood
This one was just that bit too ridiculous which is presumably why the mainstream media weren’t taken in,