Every April Fools' Day, businesses and well-known institutions step up to the challenge of pranking their customers – and some attempts have been more outlandish than others.
From Deliveroo's pineapple pizza ban to H&M's collaboration with Mark Zuckerberg, read on to discover some of the best April Fools’ shenanigans pulled off by the world’s biggest companies.
All dollar amounts in US dollars.
British national broadcaster the BBC had most of the UK fooled on 1 April 1957. Its esteemed serious news programme Panorama broadcast a report about a bumper spaghetti harvest in Switzerland, the result of an early spring and the absence of the crop's predator, the spaghetti weevil.
Following the bulletin, the BBC received calls from viewers asking where they could purchase a spaghetti bush.
Having pioneered the idea of TV April Fools' pranks, the BBC managed to fool a few Brits again on April Fools' Day 1976. Astronomer and broadcaster Patrick Moore (pictured) announced that at 9:47am on 1 April an alignment of Pluto and Jupiter would cause a temporary reduction in the Earth's gravity.
He told listeners who wanted to experience the sensation of floating to jump at that exact moment. People flooded the BBC's phone lines with stories of weightlessness. There was, of course, no weight to the claims.
Fast-food giant Taco Bell got people hot under the collar in 1996 when it took out advertisements in several major American newspapers stating that it had bought the Liberty Bell and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Readers were furious to learn that one of the most historic symbols of America's independence was being taken over by corporate America.
The National Historic Park in Philadelphia, where the bell is kept, was said to have been inundated with phone calls.
On April Fools' Day 1998 Burger King introduced the left-handed Whopper, specially designed for the millions of left-handed Americans. It featured all the same ingredients as the standard Whopper, but the contents were skewed to the left, reducing the risk of toppings sliding out from the right-hand side of the burger. Burger King even announced future plans to release the concept in other countries with large left-handed populations.
The company reported that many people tried to order one.
British supermarket chain Tesco revealed on 1 April 2002 that it had developed whistling carrots. In a spoof article published in The Sun newspaper it claimed that its genetically modified carrots would whistle a very loud 97-decibel signal when they had reached their optimum cooking temperature.
The article continued: "Opponents of the scheme predicted a nightmare scenario for future generations becoming as deaf as a post, albeit with improved vision."
Mobile tech company Qualcomm took the world by surprise on 1 April 2009 when it revealed it was going to implant tiny base stations into wolf pigeons, a mix of wolf and pigeon, in order to expand its wireless coverage. It said it had created the hybrid animal as it would be better at protecting itself than a standard pigeon and that lone wolf pigeons would be willing to go out to areas where coverage was pretty weak.
The joke flew over the heads of many.
Famous for its 1 April pranks, in 2011 tech giant Google revealed that it had pioneered Google Motion, a technology that enabled you to write emails by using only hand gestures picked up by your webcam.
Although it was intended as a joke, some programmers highlighted that it was actually possible to create a programme that would enable emails to be written by hand gestures alone. A big thumbs-up to them.
For April Fools' Day 2011, British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson announced that he'd bought the former planet Pluto for an undisclosed sum. His next mission was to have Pluto reinstated as an official planet, following its declassification by the International Astronomical Union in 1996.
He said he was developing a special deep-space vehicle that would help to bulk up Pluto to its required planetary mass – an astronomical feat indeed.
Eyewear firm Warby Parker launched its eyewear range for dogs on 1 April 2012. Named Warby Barker, it featured a range of different styles of eyewear to suit any pooch with poor sight. There were even monocles for dogs who wanted to look particularly distinguished.
Users that fell for the prank and added a $95 frame to their cart were greeted with the phrase "April Fools!" The site is still live and pet owners are still falling for it.
On 1 April 2013 the micro-blogging site Twitter announced that it would be moving to a two-tier service. The basic service would remain free, but users would only be able to type with consonants. For $5 a month premium users could use vowels too.
Twitter said that it believed that the basic service would encourage a more efficient and dense form of communication. Nbdy sw th fnny sd.
On 1 April 2015 Samsung introduced its new Samsung Blade Edge, the smart knife with smartphone capabilities. Aimed at chefs, it was waterproof and had a foldable handle. Crucially it was impossible to slice off your ear while answering the phone as the blade was designed to retract before it cut skin. If it did make contact with human blood the device would automatically alert the emergency services.
It was a cutting-edge joke.
In the same year Sony introduced the world to the PlayStation Flow, designed to take the PS4 gameplay experience to a deeper level. When playing a PS4 game that takes you underwater, Sony claimed you would be able to pause the game while you don the PlayStation Flow goggles, wearable action sensors, and your swimming gear and go to your nearest swimming pool.
Once in the pool you could continue playing, literally underwater.
Tinder and Uber also got in on the action in 2015 when they announced the option to make a Tinder match with an Uber driver. One of the perks of this romantic arrangement was that the driver would agree to split the fare with you. You also got to meet almost immediately, although it might have taken a little longer than usual for you to choose your driver.
A few people likely got taken for a ride.
On 1 April 2016 the National Geographic media group announced that it would be ending the practice of publishing photos of animals without clothes on as it was degrading. It made this statement alongside a series of surreal images, similar to this one, of dressed-up cats and dogs produced by photographer Harry Whittier Frees in the early 1900s.
Some said it was in paw taste.
Also in 2016, Quilted Northern toilet paper introduced its new Quilted Northern Rustic Weave, tailored for those who want to lead a more natural lifestyle. The hand-pulped and hand-perforated toilet paper would be rougher than you've come to expect, but by rolling back a century of innovation Quilted Northern Rustic Weave's tree-to-toilet paper would provide a more memorable bathroom experience.
Very few people got behind this one.
Famous for its collaborations with global icons, H&M announced a parody website markforhm.com on 1 April 2016 with the news that it had launched a Mark Zuckerberg clothing line. Known for his simple clothing choices, the collection featured just seven grey T-shirts and a pair of basic jeans.
The site used this quote allegedly from the Facebook founder: "I really want to clear my life so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community."
In another Google prank, in 2017 the tech giant announced the arrival of Google Wind in the Netherlands. Powered by the Google Cloud Platform, Google Wind was going to fix the country's poor weather by connecting all of its windmills and syncing them to spin simultaneously when required to blow away the all-too-prevalent rain clouds. It announced that, from 1 April, Google Wind would "guarantee clear skies for everyone".
People were blown away.
Furniture giant IKEA announced it was introducing a series of new services on 1 April 2017. These included: a Swedish massage centre, a full-service bar, and an arbitration centre where a professional mediator would be available to help couples or roommates who are reduced to arguing about whether to get the Billy bookcase in blue or beige.
Thousands of people clicked on the "Find Out More" tab to be greeted with the phrase "Happy April Fool’s Day!"
McDonald's used 1 April 2017 to introduce the Micro Mac to its customers. The Micro Mac featured the same ingredients and assembly instructions as the Big Mac, but was shrunk to 1/48 of its size, because sometimes "you're just a teeny bit hungry".
Dieters were upset to discover it actually wasn't going to be coming to their local drive-thru anytime soon.
In 2017 Irish betting firm Paddy Power announced that it had been looking at sponsoring something that combined the thrill of live horse racing with an underwater sport event. Its answer? Sea horse racing. It was pointed out that the creatures were very difficult to train and that their saddles kept falling off.
A few people enjoyed being taken along for the ride.
Mall of America declared it was bringing in texting lanes on 1 April 2017. To reduce pedestrian traffic jams and the risk of injury and to help customers navigate the vast mall safely while texting or tweeting on smartphones, it said it was marking out lanes for texters and non-texters.
However, as this was a reality in the Chinese city of Chongqing and the Belgian city of Antwerp, people may have been disappointed to learn it was a prank!
On 1 April 2017 Japanese car manufacturer Honda announced its latest app – H-Swipe – for those who want to find love at the wheel. It advised those interested to download it directly to their dashboards. Only activated when the car is stationary, the images of potential nearby suitors would pop up on the car windscreen and the driver would use the windscreen wipers to swipe left or right and accept or reject the date.
Watch out Tinder!
On 1 April 2017 phone company T-Mobile revealed it would be taking unlimited coverage to another level by introducing the world's first full-body wearable. The T-Mobile Onesie boasted it was couture meets connectivity and that it provided an unlimited human hotspot.
The joke soon wore thin.
TV streaming service hulu announced on 1 April 2017 that it would be launching a new service called hu. Designed to cater for short attention spans, hu would condense TV shows into eight-second segments, perfect for the hectic lives we live today.
The time-saving device even came goldfish-approved.
Amazon enjoys an April Fools' Day prank and on 1 April 2017 it revealed its latest tweak to its Alexa voice-activated device: Petlexa. Petlexa was supposedly able to understand pet speak so it could order sushi for the cat, count the hamster's wheel rotation steps, and activate the ball-throwing machine for the dog.
Online language-learning service Duolingo launched its first emoji course on 1 April 2017. It was designed to ensure that anyone could learn the emoji language by putting in just five minutes of study a day. One user said: "Now I can finally talk to my daughter in a language she’ll understand."
There may have been a few smiley faces at this one.
Coco-Cola floated a new variation of its classic drink on 1 April 2017 when it announced Coca-Cola Helium. The drink was supposedly developed in response to research that found people wanted to combine soft drinks with entertainment. Coca-Cola Helium promised to give its fans hilariously high-pitched voices.
The concept soon fizzled out.
Pizza Hut cooked up its Pizza Huts Spa Retreats on 1 April 2017. Pizza Hut delivery drivers would whisk customers away to a spa retreat in a secluded location. Here they could enjoy pepperoni face masks and a hot tub where they could relax and savour Pizza Hut's custom garlic dip.
Dogs feature heavily in April Fools' pranks, and BMW was another company to use them in its 1 April 2017 campaign. The dDrive dog bed promised to recreate for dogs the thrill of riding with your head out of the car window without having to leave home. The luxurious dog bed came equipped with a fan to simulate the perfect drive from your bed.
Unfortunately it wasn't fur real.
In 2017, IKEA pulled another prank when it announced the launch of a low-cost airline. FLIKEA "will be a single-class, low-cost carrier that will travel to many international destinations, and will include the world’s first non-stop flight from Sweden to Australia", the retailer said.
Another mocked-up illustration pictured passengers reclining on seats with footrests while being served the furniture giant's famous meatballs dish by cabin staff.
When it released this prank ad in 2018, Burger King certainly looked to be sweetening up its offering. Every element of a regular burger was parodied: a chocolate patty instead of a beef patty, a chocolate cake bun instead of bread, raspberry syrup in the place of ketchup and even milk chocolate leaves to look like lettuce.
We'll be on the lookout to see if they whip out another Whopper joke this year...
Duolingo was at it again in 2018. Many of us admit to being more confident at speaking foreign languages after a few drinks, but Duolingo’s April Fool took it to another level. It released a fake beer, Brewolingo, which helps you become fluent in other languages, in four ludicrous flavours.
A pint-sized April Fool joke that we only wish was true.
Everyone knows that money doesn’t grow on trees, but could you print it with a phone app? That’s what PayPal UK suggested when it announced its Print Money app on 1 April 2018.
It’s safe to say that this wasn’t the biggest budget prank of the year, and not many were fooled by the £5 note placed behind the smartphone in the ad.
In a brilliant April Fools' stunt in 2018, Coca-Cola UK launched three fake flavours: Avocado, Sourdough, and Charcoal.
The joke, clearly made at the expense of avocado-on-toast-loving millennials, must have been pretty fun for the company's marketing staff, who came up with descriptions like this: "Loaded with activated charcoal, creating a smooth and rich flavour, this miracle-in-a-can pairs perfectly with your favourite Instagram filter."
Google Israel's prank in 2018 might have had more than a few people wishing it was true. The tech company released a video for "hummus API", a technology that can detect your hummus preference and find the perfect dip for your tastes.
In the video, people were shown using a "hummus API" tasting stick, which delivered data to their phones showing their perfect hummus type, and even where to get it.
SodaStream Canada took bath time pampering to another level in 2018 when it released a video for its new prank product: SodaSoak. Reality TV star Reza Farahan advertised the invention, a piece of water-carbonating tech which would give "bubble bath" a whole new meaning. "You can choose form three levels of carbonation: Sparkling bubbles, Dazzling bubbles and Ohmygosh! bubbles" said the star.
Sadly, it was all a load of hot air.
When Easter and April Fools' Day fell on the same day in 2018, Reese's hatched a clever plan to replace eggs in egg boxes with Reese's chocolate eggs, filming shoppers' reactions in supermarkets as they opened the boxes.
We hear supermarkets are cracking down on pranks this year...
Jägermeister couldn't resist playing on the name of its famous drink when it launched a hoax ad for "Jäger-balm", a new product that promised to stop bartenders from getting sore elbows from cocktail shaking. In the ad, a man shakes up a cocktail before yelping out in pain, then another man comes out from beneath the bar holding a jar of Jäger-balm.
The ludicrous product might not have fooled many, but it was worth a shot.
While some April Fools' jokes are downright ridiculous, this is one we could actually get on board with: Lego's "VacuSort", a genius brick-sorting vacuum cleaner that divides Lego bricks from dust and dirt.
When the brand posted it on its Facebook page in 2018, many were sad to realise it wasn't real – anyone who's trodden on Lego in the middle of the night will know why.
Google’s parent company Alphabet went all out for April Fools’ Day in 2019, including the announcement of Google Tulip, a service where all Google Home devices could communicate with flowers, and a ride-sharing service for pets courtesy of Waymo. But the best of Google’s offerings was the announcement of its “Screen Cleaner” feature.
Android users were encouraged to find the feature in their mobile’s files app if they spilled something on their screens, and the device would spot the dirt using its “smudge detector API”. It would then employ micro-vibrations to shake off the mess. Hopefully Google users weren’t left in a sticky situation after that feature proved to be a prank…
Amazon-owned Audible really scaled things up in 2019 when it launched an audiobook experience for fish.
Here’s hoping that pet owners spotted something fishy was going on before setting up a book club for their aquatic pals…
The dating app took things to new heights in 2019 when it announced the imminent launch of a new verification feature. Based on the premise that some people may not tell the whole truth when it comes to saying how tall they are online, Tinder users could earn a badge on their profile by taking a photo of themselves next to a commercial building to verify their height.
The joke wasn’t a great match for a lot of users though, and many thought the move was genuine after the company posted about it on 29 March rather than 1 April.
Many Lego fans were disappointed to learn that the company’s launch of a Find My Brick app was all an elaborate April Fools’ Day ruse in 2019. A parody of Apple’s Find My iPhone app, Lego’s tech would be able to scan a pile of bricks to locate that piece that you just can’t seem to find.
Seems that every 1 April Lego builds up fans’ hopes just to knock them back down again...
Another year, another faux addition to the McDonald’s menu. In 2019 the fast-food giant hoodwinked customers with Milkshake Sauce Pots, for those who prefer a strawberry-, chocolate-, vanilla-, or banana-flavoured sauce on their fries.
Once considered a weird eating hack, dunking McDonald’s fries in a milkshake was actually actively encouraged by the company in an Instagram post in 2016, so it’s unsurprising that not all fans saw through this one.
Most big companies chose to lay off the pranks on 1 April 2020, saying it didn’t feel appropriate given the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Video UK took a different approach and decided that a bit of laughter was exactly what users needed and announced the release of a canine spin-off to its superhero series The Boys called The Good Boys.
Fans were delighted by the prospect and many had a bone to pick with the streaming service when the series never materialised.
To celebrate April Fools' Day as well as the 25th anniversary of its "Meatballs al Forno" meal, restaurant chain Frankie & Benny's cooked up an off-putting idea in 2021: meatball bath bombs.
Gabriele Barysaite, senior brand manager at the business, said: "Meatballs are our signature dish and when we realised this month marked 25 years of Meatballs al Forno being on our menu, we got thinking about how we could celebrate it in style. Our exec chef always says that our meatballs are so good you could bathe in them. So, we thought we’d give it a go."
Ever struggled to get a sofa through a narrow doorway? In 2022, furniture retailer Made.com claimed to have the solution: a small sofa that you could spritz with water to make it grow to its full size within 24 hours.
Sadly, it was the last April Fools' Day story the company could plant as it went into administration that November.
Eyebrows were raised back in 2021 when automaker Volkswagen announced it would be rebranding its US operations as Voltswagen to reflect the company’s shift towards electric vehicles. Speculation around the move didn’t last long as a spokesperson from the brand’s parent company in Germany soon revealed it was a joke, and many realised they had been duped by a premature April Fools’ prank.
"The many positive responses on social media showed that the campaign resonated with consumers," they said. "At the same time, we realise the announcement rollout upset some people and we are sorry about any confusion this has caused."
Have you ever wanted to make it clear that somebody definitely wasn't invited to your event? Wedding planning platform Hitched.co.uk claimed to have you covered in 2022 when it announced it was stocking "un-invitations" that you could send to unwelcome guests.
Featuring useful information such as "Date: None of your Business" and "Location: Not Telling You", some couples may well have been disappointed when they found out the product was a joke.
Who doesn't love the smell of fresh bread? While aromas such as citrus, flowers or even laundry might be more traditional choices for your home, few things smell as welcoming as a loaf; it's even been proven that prospective buyers are more likely to put in an offer if a home smells of baking.
On 1 April 2022, sandwich chain Subway announced it was releasing an Eau de Dough diffuser to give you that fresh-from-the-oven scent at the touch of a button. If only it were true.
The question of whether pineapple belongs on pizza has been hotly debated over the years. In 2022, food delivery service Deliveroo weighed in on the topic by claiming it was banning customers from ordering pizzas with pineapple on them, supposedly with the support of its Italian restaurant partners.
Hawaiian pizza haters didn't get to enjoy the taste of victory for long, however, as Deliveroo obviously never delivered on the threat.
Remember the lickable wallpaper from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Swedish Schnapps Brand Flävar certainly got into the "spirit" of April Fools' in 2022 by announcing that it was launching a range of lickable, vodka-flavoured wallpaper designs.
"Our labels were inspired by retro Scandinavian wallpaper so we thought, why not experiment a little and see if we can rethink the schnapps 'drinking' experience", said Brand Director Matt Bandy, who went on to explain that: "People would need to lick at least an average sized living room to feel the effect, which could take a while if you just wanted a couple of pre-drinks before a night out."
Nonetheless, the company joked that it planned to approach IKEA with its drinkable décor.
Have you ever wished your order of chicken nuggets was a little more... wearable? We're guessing not, but that didn't stop McDonald's from "unveiling the Big McNugget Boot, the most flavoursome shoe of SS23" on April Fools' Day last year.
Strongly resembling a pair of Ugg boots, but with the unmistakable texture of McDonald's batter, the fake footwear was far from convincing. Anyone who fell for this one was definitely m-Ugged off.
Many Tinder users might have been disappointed to find out this 2023 announcement was a hoax. Last year, the dating app claimed it was "removing all photos of members holding sea creatures big and small" as part of its efforts to become "the first dating app in history to be 'fish free,' because let’s face it – no one looks good holding a slimy fish."
Just in case your suspicions weren't aroused by the fact the press release contained a quote from the supposed Head of Community Pictures, Sal Mon, the company confirmed that "this stat, any names, and the entire press release is fake."
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Updated by Alice Cattley