Don't Get April Fooled
Photo Courtesy Instructables
If you woke up this morning and your roommate duct taped the lid of the toilet seat down or removed all of your left shoes from the apartment, then your April Fool’s day is already off to a great start. April Fool’s the only National Holiday where you are allowed to prank your friends and get away with it, under the guise of celebrating a holiday. Whether you’re tricking them into showing up at their corporate job in a Hawaiian shirt or surprising them with a fake spider in the shower, April Fool’s day is the perfect day to pull a joke on someone you know.
Giggling at those who failed to recognize the special date, April Fool’s Day began in 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. Those who didn’t realize that the start of the new year had moved from April 1 to January 1 became the butt of jokes and hoaxes. To this day, the tradition of pulling jokes on the unsuspecting lives on. Due to the hustle of everyday life, April Fool’s is forgotten about by some, until that is, the first prank of the day.
April Fool’s is not just for the average person, big businesses or famous people often prank their customers and followers on April Fool’s. One of the first major companies to deceive its audience was the BBC, running an entire segment about Swedish farmers harvesting spaghetti noodles from trees in 1957. In 1996, Taco Bell announced that it was going to buy the famous Liberty Bell, and rename it to the “Taco Liberty Bell” leaving many unsuspecting people confused. This past year, Siggi’s yogurt went so far as to announce their “new fermented shark skyr” complete with “big chunks” of shark in every bite.
Year after year, people are duped by these tricks. No matter how bizarre the practical joke is, people get excited when they think that their dogs will have their own dating app. Despite April Fool’s Day occurring on the same day every year, people continue to believe the lies as soon as they see an ad for Burger King’s ‘Chocolate Whopper’. But this is your warning, don’t get fooled today, no matter what is posted on Instagram.
