Chocolate burgers, invisible aircraft and trumpet porn
Cynics may complain a day that once thrived on elaborate and often terror-inducing pranks has now largely become an excuse for corporations and government agencies to pretend to be The Onion.
But fear not, for the true spirit of April Fool’s Day lives on. Below, some of the best pranks this year.
■ Canadian Armed Forces acquired an invisibility cloak
Using a couple of cleverly photoshopped images, the Canadian Armed Forces claimed to be in possession of technology that allows them to conceal ships, aircraft and even individual service members. Since the Canadian government is terrified of actually fooling people, the military made sure to include a very obvious wink by naming the system F.O.O.L.S. (Fully Operative Obstructive Light-Refraction System). And we’ll leave it to the reader to decide whether this is a very subtle protest on our perpetually under-equipped military.
■ U.K.’s Lincolnshire Police said they are “topping up the blues”
This is a masterful piece of April foolery: Quick, simple and just dry enough to be believable. Tweeted out by the U.K.’s Lincolnshire Police, it shows an attendant filling up a police vehicles’ emergency lights with blue liquid — the joke being that all police lights are actually just translucent tanks of coloured water that need to be constantly maintained.
■ Burger King released a candy hamburger
A lot of companies put together winking jokes on April Fool’s Day in order to score some free advertising. But Burger King gets extra points for a prank that actually fooled people. This video featuring a purported Chocolate Whopper is convincingly shot, and isn’t too far out of step with a fast food industry constantly trying to raise the bar on ridiculous menu items. Recall the all-meat KFC Double Down was once thought to be a prank.
■ Porn Hub becomes Horn Hub
For anyone looking to celebrate Easter Sunday with a quick dose of erotica, they may have instead been confronted with videos of trumpets and tubas. For April 1, the X-rated megasite Porn Hub changed all its branding to “Horn Hub,” a website that ostensibly exists to showcase pictures and videos of brass instruments. The site even commissioned some sensual videos of trumpets, although we obviously won’t be linking to them here.
■ Lexus genetically matches customers to cars
This isn’t just an exquisitely crafted prank from Lexus, it’s a miniature Black Mirror episode. The car company teamed up with 23andMe to launch the fake service “Genetic Select,” wherein customers submit a DNA sample to be paired with a vehicle tailored to their genetics. Options include a prescription windshield and tinted windows for redheads. Many viewers appear not to have known the video was a joke until the final seconds, when the car is shown to be started by licking the steering wheel.
■ The cosmetics line Huda Beauty began selling bags of sand
The U.S. cosmetics company Huda Beauty normally sells lashes, liquid matte, eyeshadow; normal beauty things. But over the weekend the company deftly satirized the more outlandish claims of the beauty industry. Their new product, dubbed a “natural revolution,” was nothing more than very expensive bags of beach sand to be rubbed on one’s face. In a world where raw water is a thing, beauty sand may not be that far off.
■ House-sitting request for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle
On the house-sitting website TrustedHousesitters.com, a subtle post for “MM & HW” seeks a “discreet and conscientious sitter” to watch a “large private estate in Kensington.” The poster identifies herself as an actress who left Toronto to “start a new life in England.” Prospective candidates are assured that “we may be able to arrange some form of family discount” if they wish to visit the Tower of London. The post appears to be the creation of Trusted Housesitters itself, although it might be some heroic freelance hoaxster.
■ French gendarmerie enlists eagles for traffic enforcement
For some reason, April Fool’s Day is known in French as Poisson D’Avril (fish of April). On Sunday, the French police unveiled their “poisson”: The enlistment of trained eagles to assist motorcycle cops in tracking down moving violations. “Stronger than drones!” claims an official statement.
■ The EU trolled Brits by announcing a blue passport
Late last year, Brexiteers across the United Kingdom celebrated the return of blue passports. After years of dwelling under the tyrannous thumb of EU-compliant burgundy passports, Brits could finally flash more pleasing coloured identification at border crossings. On Sunday, the U.K. office of the European Parliament announced EU passports would similarly be going blue.