Tomorrow is April 1st and of course April Fool’s Day. No one knows the origin, but it is believed to be more than 500 years old. It seems to be a national holiday at Google, but other companies have rolled out some great tricks. Here are some of our favorites…
Gmail Paper
Back in 2007 Internet citizens were convinced that Google could do just about anything with technology. Google’s Gmail group parlayed this into a great prank that you could receive all your email in paper form delivered to your door. The site has long-been taken down, but it outlined how you would receive your emails printed, stacked neatly in a box, and shipped to your front door.
Left-Handed Whopper
In 1998 Burger King took out a full-page ad in USA Today announcing their newest menu item. The Left-Handed Whopper had the condiments rotated 180 degrees so that the weight of the burger skewed to the left.
http://hoaxes.org/af_database/permalink/the_left-handed_whopper/
Spaghetti Trees
In 1957 the button-up British Broadcasting Company pulled a very elaborate prank. They sent a film crew to Switzerland to file this three-minute video demonstrating that spaghetti actually comes from trees.
Taco Bell Liberty Bell
Taco Bell got in on the fun by purchasing full-page ads in six major American newspapers proclaiming they had purchased the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. The ruse was staged as an effort to help lower the national debt. People freaked out. They lit up the phone lines at Taco Bell corporate headquarters as well as the National Park Service. Later in the day at Noon, Taco Bell released a press release to quiet the discontent or to just pull more free publicity out of the idea.