Pop culture designates April 1 as April Fools' Day—later shortened to April Fools'—which primarily commemorates the previous belief of some in the world that New Year's Day is celebrated on the said date after the recommendation of the Catholic Council of Trent in 1563 and the Gregorian Calendar in 1582, which supposedly recommended January 1 instead.
While the cause or origins of April Fools' is disputed, many celebrate the day by telling jokes and pranking people just for fun.
However, in recent times, some pranks or jokes have also caused trouble despite its well-meaning intention of having a laugh.
Pranks Gone Wrong
Throughout history, there were several pranks that were intended to be hilarious but have spectacularly backfired.
Reader's Digest listed several pranks that have gone wrong from the 1500s to the present day.
The first and oldest one was said to have been recorded in 1582, when France switched to the Gregorian calendar, which changed New Year's Day from April 1 to January 1. Unlike modern times, when technology made the propagation of news and other trends nearly instantaneous, the news took a long while to reach everyone and take effect.
As a result, those who were slow on the uptake became the butt of all pranks, including having paper fish glued onto their backs. To this day, French people still refer to those who were easily fooled as "fish."
Another prank at the turn of the 21st century happened in 2002 when a couple of Kansas City SJs announced that the local water supply had been found to contain high levels of "dihydrogen monoxide" (DHMO), whose side effects included sweating, urination, and skin-pruning. This resulted in hundreds of residents flooding the city's water department and the police with distressed phone calls.
However, "dihydrogen monoxide" is just the worded nomenclature for H20 - the chemical name for water.
This caused people to criticize the DJs and even prompted a government official to accuse them of "terrorism" in the wake of 9/11.
In 2013, two Florida DJs pulled the same prank. The resulting clamor got the DJs yanked off the air and nearly saddled with felony charges.
Corporate Pranksters, Media Gimmicks
In addition to individuals, corporations also attempted to pull off April Fools' pranks, which massively backfired.
According to USA Today, Google, Tesla, and Volkswagen were among the many companies that performed April Fools' pranks. However, instead of highlighting their reputation as jokesters, the three firms nearly tarnished it as fraudsters.
For example, Tesla boss Elon Musk tweeted in 2018 that the company had gone "bankrupt" after facing a string of bad news, including a fatal crash involving a Model X SUV driver that March. The prank "backfired immediately," according to online brand management platform Frontify global CCO Rebecca Rosborough, causing Tesla's stock to drop 7%.
Five years later, Tesla posted on X, the social network Musk bought in April 2022 when it was called Twitter, a 38-second crash test video in which the company's Cybertruck never actually crashed.
This led to some people waiting for the vehicle to arrive and complaining in the comments.
"Yeah, if you could stop teasing the Tesla community and I, that'd be great," one reply tweet read.
Volkswagen also attempted an April Fools' prank in 2021, where it renamed its American division to "Voltswagen," swapping out the "k" with a "t" as a commitment to electric vehicles.
Confusing situations ensued within the global brand. Some Volkswagen officials told the Wall Street Journal at the time that the announcement was an early April Fools' joke, while others maintained that the change was legitimate.
After the company's stock began to rise, and VW's communication teams and journalists wasted a lot of time, the company confessed that the whole thing really was a joke.
Meanwhile, Google pulled off an April Fools' prank in 2016 when it introduced the Mic Drop feature in Gmail. According to the company, the feature made it "easier to have the last word on any email" by adding a GIF of a yellow animated minion from the "Despicable Me "animated franchise dropping a microphone.
However, a bug unintentionally added the Mic Drop to many emails and had to be turned off.
"We love April Fools' jokes at Google, and we regret that this joke missed the mark and disappointed you," the company said in a statement at the time.
On the other hand, The Guardian released an article quizzing its readers about the authenticity of several news topics and whether they were fake news.
Pranks People Should Avoid
With all the listed pranks gone wrong, Filipino news broadcaster ABS-CBN listed several discussions and situations that should never be pranked.
Among them are jokes and pranks involving deaths, self-harm, or mental disorders, which absolutely should never be taken lightly.
Also, in the same vein, there are pranks involving breakups or cheating on one's partner, which could pass off as an exciting way to test a romantic partner's commitment to a relationship but could end up with an actual breakup.
Another prank regarding personal status is those involving "coming out" as part of the LGBTQ+ community, which continues to be a sensitive and controversial topic in itself.
Causing a stir in public that could lead to panic and mass hysteria and pranking delivery riders should also not be considered for April Fools' pranks, as it could lead to serious harm or criminal liability.
April Fools Deals ... No Joke!
Meanwhile, Diario AS shared several food chains that would offer deals for April Fools' Day for real.
Krispy Kreme often offers promotions on special days, including April Fools. For example, if a customer buys a dozen of its doughnuts, they could get a dozen original glazed doughnuts for only $4.01, around $8 less than the usual $12.99 cost.
For Wendy's, they have a promo on Monday (April 1) where the first 100 customers who were in line beginning at 14:00 in more than 250 locations across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut would receive a coupon card valid for one free breakfast sandwich every week for one year at any of the participating branches in the three mentioned states.
Meanwhile, Loyal clients who have already signed up for The Cheesecake Factory's Cheesecake Rewards program would have a chance to win on Monday either a free cheesecake slice, $10 off a $40 purchase, $5 off a $25 purchase, a free whole cheesecake, or a free cheesecake slice each month for a year.
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