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By Emma Walker
As April Fools Day approaches Bournemouth and the rest of England have witnessed some impressive and strange hoaxes.
These rain filled Isles have seen some of the best April fools tricks and whilst most of us remember the amateur jokes that we played on our friends at school such as the woopie cushion under the teachers seat and putting the clock forward to finish early, some of the Biggest global companies have tricked thousands and thousands of people into believing some weird and wonderful pranks on the date of April 1st. To celebrate this date Wire has taken a look back at some of the top tricks that have been played on the British public and whilst we can predict what this year holds it seems April Fools has quite a history.
In 1980 one of the worlds most respected Broadcaster BBC tricked the country into believing that Big Ben was going to change the skyline of London and go digital. This report not only shocked the country but was heard all over the world as the BBC Japanese service continued the prank stating that the first four listeners to contact them would be the lucky winners of the famous clock hands.
The Burger King brand is a well-known and recognised label across the world and did not want to miss out on the hoaxes; therefore in 1998 it advertised a new item on the menu, a ‘Left Handed Whooper’. They claimed that it had been specially designed for the millions of left handed people and according to them it still contained the same ingredients but all the contents had been rotated 180 degrees. Despite the press release that was published the following day stating it was a hoax the company revealed that thousands of people ordered the Left Handed Whooper.
Capital radio in London announced that the British government wanted to re-sync the UK with the rest of the world and to do this it would require April 5th and April 12th to be removed from the calander. Hundreds of people fell for this wanting to know it they would still receive their salary for the two days.
Panorama claimed that spaghetti grew on trees. Whilst The Independent reported that researcher in Florida had developed a Viagra like pill to treat sexually frustrated pets, including hamsters.
Wire spoke to a worker from Hollywood fancy dress and joke shop to see what the people of Bournemouth have been buying for April fools. “ We always have people coming in to buy joke items but there hasn’t been any more people buying these things just because it April Fools”. It seems that Bournemouth is not quite ready to see some of the more outrageous tricks yet. “They like to buy the simple tricks like sweets that stain your tongue green and scratch stickers to put on peoples cars, but that’s it really nothing over the top”.
Shara Harland a first year events management student is excited about April Fools “I think it such a good day, it all a bit of fun and beats all the doom and gloom that we hear all the time now, so I looking forward to just having a laugh and a joke and pulling a few pranks on people.”
This year keep your eyes and ears open and do not believe everything you hear, read or see on April 1st.
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