Albertans taken in by these five April Fool's Day pranks

Once a year, people, brands and social media accounts come out on April 1 with attention-grabbing headlines and stories in an effort to trick readers. Here are five April Fools' pranks that fooled Albertans.

NENSHI REPLACING GONDEK AS MAYOR

By marking the source as “happyaprilfools.com,” the Calgary Events Instagram page made sure everyone knew this was a joke. But after Gondek was booed at the Calgary Flames game where she made an appearance on Saturday, this joke may be in bad taste.

WESTJET: MEMOREASE

Westjet was eager to share its latest innovation, posting on X shortly before midnight. MEMOREASE, a headset loaded with Ai-generated vacation memories, was billed as allowing Canadians to enjoy a holiday without having to leave their homes. The video included a label that reads “it's totally real,” but commenters on X did not appear to be fooled.

ALBERTA'S WILD WEST AMUSEMENT PARK

Curiocity Calgary shared the announcement of Alberta's newest amusement park: Rocky Range Adventure Park. The $2-billion price tag had Albertans divided in the comments — some saying that's what makes it obvious as a prank, others explaining where the money would be better spent. The make-believe amusement park already has expansion plans.

TIM HORTONS' TIMBIT WEDDING CAKE

Tim Hortons unveiled a new menu item: the Timbit wedding cake. Announcing that it is only available April 1 and showing a “Happy April Fools” banner, the fast-food company makes it clear this is a joke. That didn't stop people from getting excited, with a lot of commenters asking the coffee chain to make the cake a reality.

MCDONALD'S LIP BALMS

Mcdonald's Canada announced Mcd's lip balms, in the flavours Big Mac Sauce, Oreo Mcflurry and Extra Pickles. To make sure it was read as a joke, readers were urged to “check the date,” though people seemed excited by the concept. mrhode@postmedia.com