Rules for April Fool's Day

[Whomp]

I see a lot of you posters getting tricked today. With my vast knowledge on this topic I thought I'd share with some of the things I've learned.

• Beware strange animals. If a story whiffs even remotely of the hotheaded naked ice borer, it's likely to be a hoax.
  
• Turn off your radio. Deejays love to pull practical jokes on April Fools' Day. In 1989, KSLX-FM in Scottsdale, Ariz., broadcast the claim that the station had been taken hostage by Pima Indians, prompting calls to the police.
  
• Shun the British press. The British tabloids make stories up all the time. The Daily Mail announced the postponement of Andrew and Fergie's wedding because of a clash with Prince Charles' calendar.
  
• Too good to be true. News organizations sometimes fall for the April Fools' Day pranks perpetrated by outside hoaxsters, so don't expect every clue to be obvious. If an April 1 article declares that something valuable is now "free" or purports to break news about "hidden treasure," you're being had.

One of my favorites. How about you?

BURGER KING INTRODUCES LEFT-HANDED WHOPPERS


Burger King UK today announced the launch of its latest salvo in the battle of the Burger Wars - the new left-handed Whopper - which will become available nation-wide tomorrow April 1.

The UK's most preferred hamburger will still consist of lettuce, onions, pickles, mayonnaise, ketchup and four-ounce flame-grilled hamburger patty, but the sandwich has been re-designed to fit more comfortably in the left hand. This will result in fewer condiment 'spills' for left-handed hamburger lovers.

The new Left-Handed Whopper will have all the condiments rotated 180 degrees, thereby redistributing the weight of the sandwich so that the bulk of them skew to the left.

"We have always been proud of the fact that we offered 1,024 ways to order our flagship Whopper sandwich, now we are offering 1,025 ways! It's the ultimate 'Have It Your Way' for our left-handed customers," says Lorraine Thomson, Marketing Director for Burger King UK.

The Left Handed Club estimates that nearly 11 million left-handed customers visit Burger King restaurants in the UK each year. Lauren Milsom from the Club comments: "We are delighted that Burger King has recognised the difficulties of holding a hamburger in your left hand that has a natural right bias to it. We urge all left handed hamburger lovers to visit their nearest Burger King and taste the difference for themselves."

Initially, the Left-Handed Whopper will only be available in the UK, however Burger King is considering plans to roll it out to other countries with large left handed populations.

Notes to Editors:

Burger King UK and its franchisees operate 527 restaurants around the country and more than 10,000 restaurants in 53 countries and international territories around the world. In fiscal year 1998, Burger King had system-wide sales of $10.3 billion. Burger King UK is a subsidiary of Diageo plc, one of the world's leading branded consumer products businesses.

Famous Lefties:

Paul McCartney had a left-handed guitar made especially for him
'busty' model Melinda Messenger
legendary guitarist Jimmy Hendrix
Supermodel Sophie Dahl
former England cricketer David Gower
TV presenter Sarah Green
former MP Roy Jenkins
Lefty Facts:

1965 left-handed scissors introduced into the UK
1995 the first left handed cheque-book with the stubs on the right was launched by Lloyds bank
1998 launch of the Left handed ergonomic computer mouse brought Lefties into the Nineties!
A picture accompanying this release is on the Two-Ten News Network area of the PA Bulletin Board. There is no charge for using the picture or story.

Distributed by PR Newswire on behalf of Burger King

The Museum of hoaxes
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/index

 

[Catharsis]

The Independent is being obtuse. It's given us five possible hoaxes, four of which are true, and offered some bottles of port to anyone who can guess which one is the hoax.

I think the stories are Robot Rights, viagra plants, musical lederhosen, a Prince Harry-related apple shortage, and Posh Spice on a motorised cart.

 

[classical_hero]

A good joke is one that is hard to tell if it is a joke. I remember last year when Mathilda told us that she and AVN were getting married. That was clearly one fo the best jokes done for that day, since it was so believable. Wedding Invitation

 

[Sophie 378]

There was one on the radio (or was it BBC News?) about, oh, twenty-ish years ago, about how there was a serious pasta shortage due to failure of the spaghetti crop.

A few years after that there was some news (I don't remember what) about the Isle of Sans Serif.

 

[Xanikk999]

A good joke is one that is hard to tell if it is a joke. I remember last year when Mathilda told us that she and AVN were getting married. That was clearly one fo the best jokes done for that day, since it was so believable. Wedding Invitation

Hopefully i dont get in trouble for saying this.. but i though mathilda was ahem: you know?

 

[Disgustipated]

Isn't it a good idea to shun the British press all the time?

 

[Sophie 378]

Xanikk: I believe Mathilda is bisexual, not "ahem: you know".
Disgustipated: shunning all of the UK press is only a sensible option if you also shun all of the other worldwide press. There are a few good articles in amoung the dross.

 

[Rik Meleet]

1962 - a statue of the easter islands on drift came ashore on the Dutch Coast.

 

[YNCS]

Isn't it a good idea to shun the British press all the time?

What! Miss out on the Page Three Girls?

 

[Mr. Dictator]

once, a local radio personality hear said that eddie veder had shot himself.

he got fired, lawlz.

 

[Serutan]

There was one on the radio (or was it BBC News?) about, oh, twenty-ish years ago, about how there was a serious pasta shortage due to failure of the spaghetti crop.

Jack Paar did a routine about that in the early 60s (not on April 1). He
and NBC were take aback by how many people believed it.

 

[fantasmo]

There was one on the radio (or was it BBC News?) about, oh, twenty-ish years ago, about how there was a serious pasta shortage due to failure of the spaghetti crop.

Is that in any way related to the spaghetti trees on Panorama in the 60s?

 

[Whomp]

Is that in any way related to the spaghetti trees on Panorama in the 60s?

It's in the link from my OP as the #1 hoax.

1: The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest
In 1957 the respected BBC news show Panorama announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. Huge numbers of viewers were taken in, and many called up wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti trees. To this question, the BBC diplomatically replied that they should "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best." Check out the actual broadcast archived on the BBC's website (You need the RealVideo player installed to see it, and it usually loads very slowly).

 

[Sophie 378]

Ah, so not in the 80s after all. I just know that my parents have been joking about spaghetti trees for as long as I've been alive, and when I asked about it ~19 years ago they told me it was on the news on April Fool's Day. I assumed they'd meant the recent AFD.

 

[Urederra]

Tah best one:

Civilization Fanatics Center and Apolyton merged!!!!!!

LOL, Sure Thunderfall is funny.

Oh... wait.

 

[Stylesjl]

I came out of the communist closet. Does that count as an April Fools joke if the timing was a bit late?

 

[Steph]

Last year I did that. To bad someone called for April Fool immediately.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=165515

 

[TopDog]

Last year one of the radio station morning hosts got the prime minister to verify their claims that cellphones would be banned for teenages