Spoofs fool readers in yearly hoax
Source: Agencies |
April 2, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IN yesterday's headlines - flavored newsprint, high-tech ferrets and the revelation that Britain's greatest writer was half French.
The stories in yesterday's press aren't true, but examples of the British media's proud tradition of April Fools' Day spoofs - the unofficial April 1 competition to dupe the naive and unsuspecting.
This year, The Sun reported it has developed the world's first flavored newspaper page and invited readers to lick a square of newsprint "to reveal a hidden taste." Just below the spot was the fine-print warning: "May contain nuts."
The Daily Telegraph said an Internet service provider plans to use tunneling ferrets to deliver broadband services to remote areas, and BBC radio's "Today" program ran an item claiming that William Shakespeare's mother was French.
The Daily Mail, meanwhile, claimed staff at car-breakdown service the Automobile Association are to be fitted with jet packs to fly over traffic jams and reach stranded motorists.
Some say April Fools' Day started with the creation of the Gregorian calendar in the 16th century, which changed the starting date of the new year from April 1 to January 1. But associations between April 1 and tomfoolery stretches back to the Middle Ages, and some say the day's origins lie in ancient Indian and Roman festivals that celebrated foolishness and misrule.
The British media prides itself on a long tradition of elaborate hoaxes. In 1957, the BBC TV news program "Panorama" aired a story about the unusually big spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland. Straight-faced and convincing, it is now considered a classic April Fools' hoax.
Several spoofs yesterday targeted Britain's next national election, due by June 3.
The Guardian reported the Labour Party plans to tackle rumors that Prime Minister Gordon Brown has anger-management issues with a campaign slogan, "Vote Labour. Or else."
It said strategists plan posters based on classic films "casting Brown as The Godfather, the Terminator or Mr Brown from 'Reservoir Dogs,'"
Google's British home page yesterday offered a new service, Google Animal Translate, promising to let you know exactly what your pet is thinking.
And a BMW ad invites British drivers to "show your true colors this election" with special hood ornaments in political party colors.
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