Best April Fool's Jokes 2012
Purely MHO:-
Politics was a big theme in 2012.
The Sunday Telegraph claimed that the Tories were launching a hunt to replace recently-departed "blue skies" thinker Steve Hilton using the format of a new reality TV show.
The Observer said David Cameron had asked the Happy Mondays singer Shaun Ryder to come to Downing Street to advise him on issues of class. (Hubby and I fell for this one.)
The Independent on Sunday reported on police stations holding "hosepipe amnesties" for the public to hand in garden hoses ahead of a hosepipe ban in south-east England (the hosepipe ban was real, just the amnesty was a joke).
The Sunday Times' Style magazine hoped to catch out readers with its double-page spread on "Lemac", a new Middle-Eastern beauty treatment where customers are injected with cells from the humps of camels.
Readers of The Sun on Sunday reported that Arsenal football club was releasing its own fragrance, which took its aromas from the Emirates Stadium, including the unmistakable odour of Arsene Wenger's leather seat in the dugout.
The Mail on Sunday claimed that, in response to the so-called pasty tax (no the pasty tax wasn't the joke, that bit was true), the Government was planning a new duty to be added to "chilled champagne".
In a similar vein STV in Scotland claimed that there was to be a tax on Irn Bru.
ThinkGeek.com released a prank gadget which puts a set of the plastic toy Hungry Hippos, supposedly costing $29.99, on top of an iPad, running the Hungry Hippo app which would allow people to go back to their childhood while staying tech-smart.
Google's offering was an announcement that they were releasing a version of Google Maps for the ‘long neglected’ Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
YouTube launched The YouTube Collection, taking the site off the internet and bringing it into users' living rooms. Marketing it as "the complete YouTube experience completely offline," they offered, "a way to literally hold YouTube in your hand". . In the scheme, users would be shipped shrink-wrapped boxes of all of the DVDs that it takes store the information held by the video-sharing website. The first instalment would come via 175 moving vans, and then get additional updates every week as more videos are posted to the site.
Companies got in on the act, with the usual suspects:-
Ikea announced they would be selling allen keys for left handed people.
As part of the company's partnership with the London 2012 Olympic games, BMW announced a new driverless car that would act as a running coach for athletes.
Toshiba debuted its new tablet, “Shapes”, which come in the shape of an oblong, rhombus or love heart and promised to deliver a more personalised way of consuming information.
And finally the BBC announced new legislation that would give the British intelligence agency, GCHQ, the power to monitor the phone calls, emails, texts and website visits of everyone in the UK. Unfortunately this wasn't an April's Fool.
Politics was a big theme in 2012.
The Sunday Telegraph claimed that the Tories were launching a hunt to replace recently-departed "blue skies" thinker Steve Hilton using the format of a new reality TV show.
The Observer said David Cameron had asked the Happy Mondays singer Shaun Ryder to come to Downing Street to advise him on issues of class. (Hubby and I fell for this one.)
The Independent on Sunday reported on police stations holding "hosepipe amnesties" for the public to hand in garden hoses ahead of a hosepipe ban in south-east England (the hosepipe ban was real, just the amnesty was a joke).
The Sunday Times' Style magazine hoped to catch out readers with its double-page spread on "Lemac", a new Middle-Eastern beauty treatment where customers are injected with cells from the humps of camels.
Readers of The Sun on Sunday reported that Arsenal football club was releasing its own fragrance, which took its aromas from the Emirates Stadium, including the unmistakable odour of Arsene Wenger's leather seat in the dugout.
The Mail on Sunday claimed that, in response to the so-called pasty tax (no the pasty tax wasn't the joke, that bit was true), the Government was planning a new duty to be added to "chilled champagne".
In a similar vein STV in Scotland claimed that there was to be a tax on Irn Bru.
ThinkGeek.com released a prank gadget which puts a set of the plastic toy Hungry Hippos, supposedly costing $29.99, on top of an iPad, running the Hungry Hippo app which would allow people to go back to their childhood while staying tech-smart.
Google's offering was an announcement that they were releasing a version of Google Maps for the ‘long neglected’ Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
YouTube launched The YouTube Collection, taking the site off the internet and bringing it into users' living rooms. Marketing it as "the complete YouTube experience completely offline," they offered, "a way to literally hold YouTube in your hand". . In the scheme, users would be shipped shrink-wrapped boxes of all of the DVDs that it takes store the information held by the video-sharing website. The first instalment would come via 175 moving vans, and then get additional updates every week as more videos are posted to the site.
Companies got in on the act, with the usual suspects:-
Ikea announced they would be selling allen keys for left handed people.
As part of the company's partnership with the London 2012 Olympic games, BMW announced a new driverless car that would act as a running coach for athletes.
Toshiba debuted its new tablet, “Shapes”, which come in the shape of an oblong, rhombus or love heart and promised to deliver a more personalised way of consuming information.
And finally the BBC announced new legislation that would give the British intelligence agency, GCHQ, the power to monitor the phone calls, emails, texts and website visits of everyone in the UK. Unfortunately this wasn't an April's Fool.