14 Classic April Fools’ Jokes to Use For Inspiration

(Last Updated On: March 29, 2021)

Classic April Fools' jokes

We’re rolling up on April 1st soon, which means you’re probably getting ready to mess with your friends. Or you’re preparing to get messed with. One or the other, there’s no in between. If you’re stumped on ideas, we’ve prepared a list of some classic April Fools’ jokes from history. Maybe these will provide you with some inspiration? Just remember to clean up any messes you make in the process. 

Further Reading: What Is the History of April Fools’ Day?


14 Classic April Fools’ Jokes to Use For Inspiration

1. In 1986 Le Parisien (The Parisian) claimed that the Eiffel Tower would be dismantled for a Euro-Disney park. Honestly, if any massive infinite-money-having corporation was going to dismantle the Eiffel Tower, it’d be the big mouse.

2. An April Fools joke in 1998 passed by Mark Boslough held that Alabama was trying to pass a law rounding pi (π) down to 3. Except in 1897 Indiana tried to make pi 3.2, 4, or 3.23. So uh… Yeah…

3. The British BBC does a lot of April Fool’s jokes. In 1980 they pranked everyone by saying Big Ben was going to become a digital clock. The British hated it so much the BBC ended up apologizing for it. 

4. Cottonelle said they were making left-handed toilet paper in 2015.

5. The Swedish did an April Fool’s in 1962, they convinced people you could watch black and white broadcasts by putting nylon stockings over your TV.

6. In 1993 April Fool’s rumors circulated that China would be relaxing its one-child policy. This didn’t go over well, and after state media published April Fool’s jokes as true–like when The Onion published Kim Jong Un being voted the sexiest man alive. Yeah April Fool’s is called “liar’s day” now. 

7. Burger King unveiled left-handed burgers in 1998. You can take left handed dumps with Cottonelle we guess.

8. Google made a smart-drink called “Google gulp!” Considering how many other products Google has abandoned it wouldn’t be surprising if this was something they dropped, but regretted thinking of something so stupid they passed it off internally as a joke. 

9. The BBC claimed to find flying penguins in 2008.

Free me from the constraints of the flesh.

10. More BBC, they claimed to create “Smell-O-Vision” in 1965, allowing you to smell what you were watching on TV. People apparently contacted the BBC to tell them that yes, they could smell the stuff on their TV. It’s called a placebo, you can’t transmit smells through the TV. We barely have those scented markers right. 

11. A comedy show in Seattle claimed the space Needle fell over in 1989. Some people freaked out about it. 

12. Taco Bell claimed to buy the Liberty Bell in 1996 and renamed it the Taco Liberty Bell. Unlike the Brits and Big Ben, then White House press secretary Mike Curry said the Lincoln Memorial would be sold and redubbed the Lincoln-Mercury Memorial. 

13. Bing launched the “Cute Cloud” in 2015. It just showed you cute animals. This was probably the first time you’ve thought of Bing in a really long time. 

14. CNN called the BBC’s 1957 spaghetti harvest “the biggest hoax any reputable news establishment ever pulled.” The BBC claimed Swiss farmers were dealing with a “heavy spaghetti crop.” Even the BBC’s director at the time was fooled. Sidebar, remember when news was reputable?


Do some April Fool’s logic here, if you’re trying to figure out how to be safe from pranks. 

About the Author:

+ posts

Kyler is a content writer at Sporcle living in Seattle, and is currently studying at the University of Washington School of Law. He's been writing for Sporcle since 2019; sometimes the blog is an excellent platform to answer random personal questions he has about the world. Most of his free time is spent drinking black coffee like water.

Comments

comments