The April Fools’ that fooled everybody

No one likes admitting they fell for a practical joke, especially on April Fools' Day. Yet time and time again, people fall prey to a joke or a prank. In fact, history is full of such examples.

Republica brings to you some particularly entertaining April Fools' hoaxes from over the years. These are creativity, some even historically significant and they all succeeded in duping a large number of people.

The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest

April 1, 1957: The respected BBC news show Panorama 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. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. Huge numbers of viewers were taken in. Many called the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC diplomatically replied, "Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best." Even the director-general of the BBC later admitted that after seeing the show he checked in an encyclopedia to find out if that was how spaghetti actually grew (but the encyclopedia had no information on the topic). The broadcast remains, by far, the most popular and widely acclaimed April Fools' Day hoax ever, making it an easy pick for number one.

Instant Color TV

April 1, 1962: Sweden's SVT (Sveriges Television) brought their technical expert, Kjell Stensson, onto the news to inform the public that, thanks to a new technology, viewers could convert their existing sets to display color reception. At the time, there was only one TV channel in Sweden, and it broadcast in black and white, so this was big news. Stensson explained that all viewers had to do was pull a nylon stocking over their TV screens, and the mesh would cause the light to bend in such a way that it would appear as if the image was in color. He proceeded to demonstrate the process. Thousands of people were taken in. Many Swedes today still report remembering their fathers rushing through the house trying to find stockings to place over the TV set. Regular color broadcasts only commenced in Sweden on April 1, 1970.

Man Flies By Own Lung Power

In April 1934, many American newspapers (including The New York Times) printed a photograph of a man flying through air by means of a device powered only by breath from his lungs. Accompanying articles excitedly described this miraculous new invention. The man, identified as German pilot Erich Kocher, blew into a box on his chest. This activated rotors that created a powerful suction effect, lifting him aloft. Skis on his feet served as landing gear, and a tail fin allowed him to steer. What the American papers didn't realize was that the "lung-power motor" was a joke. The photo had first appeared in the April Fools' Day edition of the Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung. It made its way to America thanks to Hearst's International News Photo agency which not only fell for the hoax but also distributed it to all its US subscribers. In the original article, the pilot's name was spelled "Erich Koycher," which was a pun on the German word "keuchen," meaning to puff or wheeze.

Gmail Motion

Google announced the introduction of Gmail Motion, a new technology that would allow people to write emails using only hand gestures. Gmail Motion, the company explained, used a computer's webcam and a "spatial tracking algorithm" to track a person's gestures and translate them into words and commands. For instance, a person could 'open a message' by making a motion with their hands as if opening an envelope. Or they could 'reply' to a message by pointing backward over their shoulder.

By 2011, Google had become well-known for making spoof announcements every April first, with its annual spoofs both highly anticipated and widely shared. (The company earns a place in the Top 100 largely on the basis of that alone). But Gmail Motion was one of its more believable jokes. In fact, within a few days programmers had demonstrated that it was possible (if not practical) to create a working, gesture-based email system like Gmail Motion using existing, off-the-shelf technology.

Similarly, last year, Google Japan celebrated April Fools' Day with an announcement that everyone wished were real. The company unveiled a cute physical version of Google Now which could talk and respond to any question. Dubbed Google Panda, the furry assistant claims to be capable of answering questions whenever and wherever possible and can even recognize 50 languages. "Google Panda is engineered with state of the art emotional and conversational intelligence," said Chris Yerga in the video. "All you have to do is speak your mind."

Selfie shoes

The article claimed that the shoe company Miz Mooz was selling "selfie shoes" for USD 199 starting April 2. The shoes were purported to make it easier than a selfie stick to take a selfie by setting up a phone dock in the toes of your shoes. The joke was apparently sent to USA Today in the form of a prank press release from real company Miz Mooz and they totally fell for it. They created a segment on it and everything. What's more, they were not the only ones. Various online blogs and sites picked up the story. Miz Mooz did go to great lengths to convince people. They even had a video on their website promoting the prank product as if it were real saying its "selfie shoes" would make it easy to take selfies without having to lug around a selfie stick.