April Fool's Day

I love a good prank. It’s a fine line, but when done well, I laugh every time. Here are some of the more elaborate pranks that have happened on April Fool’s Days of years past.

Taco Liberty Bell

In 1996 Taco Bell declared it was purchasing the Liberty Bell and renaming it the “Taco Liberty Bell”. After thousands of calls to the corporation and the National Park Service, the then White House Press Secretary responded the government was also selling the Lincoln Memorial to Ford Motors and renaming it the “Lincoln-Mercury Memorial".

Left-handed Whopper

Apparently, fast food loves a good joke. In 1998, Burger King announced its new Left-Handed Whopper with "all condiments rotated 180 degrees”. People showed up, specifying which dominate-hand Whopper they wanted.

Big Ben Going Digital

In 1980, a BBC’s overseas service reported that Big Ben was going to change to a digital readout and the first four listeners to reach out would get a clock hand. There was a lot of outrage, apparently, and the prank fell flat.