April 1st is April Fools Day. A day when people play practical jokes on each other.
Here are some of the most memorable ones in England:
In 1957 Panorama, a TV programme, fooled millions of Brits into believing that spaghetti grows on trees! The show 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.
In 1980 the BBC reported that Big Ben, in order to keep up with the times, was going to be given a digital readout. It received a huge response from listeners protesting the change. The BBC Japanese service also announced that the clock hands would be sold to the first 4 listeners to contact them, and one Japanese seaman in the mid-Atlantic immediately radioed in a bid.
In 2000 early morning commuters travelling on the northern carriageway of the M3 near Farnborough, Hampshire encountered a pedestrian zebra crossing painted across the busy highway. (A zebra crossing is a place where people cross the road. Traffic has to stop for people wanting to cross on a zebra crossing)
In 2002 Tesco published an advertisement announcing the successful development of a genetically modified whistling carrot with tapered air holes in their side. The extraordinary carrots would start to whistle once fully cooked!
Friday, March 31, 2006
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4 comments:
My favourite was the Left Handed Whopper advertised by Burger King.
The new Left Handed Whopper was said to have all the condiments rotated 180 degrees, thereby redistributing the weight of the sandwich so that the bulk of them skew to the left. Just right for left handers!
The Times newspaper today reported that “Britain’s banks are developing a system of credit card security that uses the voice’s tonal range. Rather than needing to recall a PIN, you will need to remember a line of a song… Optical scans are too fallible, and standard voice recognition too easy to mimic electronically. But no two people sing the same way. Tills and cash dispensers are to have microphones.”
The Daily Mail reported that Tony Blair, in a “literally incredible break with decades of tradition,” had decided to paint the door of 10 Downing Street red. “”After 270 years, Blair paints No 10 front door socialist red.”
The Daily Express claimed that biscuits were being mixed into tarmac to help make roads safer. “Scientists yesterday revealed that broken biscuits are in fact the perfect material to help resurface roads… Years of experimental research revealed that crushed-up ginger nuts are the best biscuit for a road’s sub-base, as they are more porous and allow water to drain away.”
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