Famous April Fools Day Pranks!

The history on April Fools Day remains a mystery, but many look forward to the jokes and pranks that come with it. This unofficial holiday has kept its relevance due to everyone keeping the tradition going. Many different groups including: radio stations, news networks, and celebrities try to keep this day alive by doing comical pranks on everyone watching or listening. Many famous pranks have occurred over television over the last several years. How many pranks do people still know about today, and how many have been forgotten?

Coming in at the number one prank happening on tv is the spaghetti trees prank pulled by the British Broadcasting Corporation. This prank took place in 1957, but it is still the best prank pulled on tv today. Just 65 years ago, there were many people calling in to know how they could plant and cultivate their own spaghetti trees. As we all know, pasta definitely doesn’t grow in trees, but a big majority of people fell for this comical joke.

Another old but funny prank was pulled by the Swedish National Network back in 1962. This commercial showed how you could switch the black and white screen to color just by putting hosiery (pantyhose) over the tv. Many were gullible enough to fall for this even though it is obviously a hoax. Would you have fallen for this back in the day?

The British Broadcasting Corporation pulled another comical prank, trying to top their last one in 1957. Almost 10 years later, in 1965, they pulled a prank saying a new technology was coming out. This new technology would allow them to smell what was going on in the tv. People with a big imagination even called in saying they could smell coffee when watching shows involving a cup of coffee. 

The fourth prank was made by the contestants of an old game show called ‘Press Your Luck.’ This game show required the contestants to answer certain questions to win prizes. The producers hired fake contestants to prank the game show host, Peter Tomarken. These contestants were told to not answer any questions. After hosting multiple active and energetic episodes, the host was very confused on why these contestants would even want to play the game. Although this prank was on one person, it still made the world laugh.

This last prank was pulled in Seattle back in 1989. This prank wasn’t like the other funny pranks though. It occupied all the 911 lines in the state. They stated that the iconic space needle had collapsed, sending people to the hospital. This prank was a little more harsh since it caused fear to the residents in Seattle. The funny part about this prank is how “APRIL FOOLS!” was at the bottom of the tv the whole time! Even though the broadcasting network was trying to scare people in a funny way, most didn’t even realize what the bottom of the screen said!

All of these pranks above are what we would call, oldies but goodies. It’s funny to realize how gullible some people could be and wonder if you would’ve seen through the prank or not. Imagine being an adult at the time with all these pranks going on, would you have been the one to call in and agree with their pranks?