April Fools!

So glad you didn’t fall for our little practical joke. Now see if you can remember these well-known April Fools’ Day pranks.

1. On April 1, 1996, Taco Bell took out a full-page ad in The New York Times announcing that it had done what?

a. Fired its Chihuahua mascot and replaced him with a donkey.
b. Purchased the Liberty Bell to “reduce the country’s debt” and renamed it the “Taco Liberty Bell.”
c. Bought out McDonald’s.
d. Stolen the “Where’s the Beef?” lady from Wendy’s.

2. Howstuffworks.com has run bogus articles on April Fools’ Day. Which of the following was one of them?

a. How the Air Force One Hybrid works.
b. How to get blood from a stone.
c. How to grow money from trees.
d. How to become the teacher’s pet.

3. George Plimpton wrote a 1985 article in Sports Illustrated about a New York Mets prospect named Sidd Finch who could do what?

a. Throw a 168 mph fastball with pinpoint accuracy.
b. Hit a home run at every turn at bat.
c. Pitch both as a lefty and righty.
d. Balance a hot dog on the end of his bat.

4. On April 1, 1998, Burger King ran an ad in USA Today for what new product?

a. No-drip ketchup
b. No-salt French fries
c. Left-handed Whoppers
d. A Big Mac

5. The BBC television program Panorama ran a famous hoax in 1957 showing the Swiss harvesting what from trees?

a. Money
b. Broccoli
c. Spaghetti
d. Shoes

6. Google has a tradition of perpetrating April Fools’ Day hoaxes. Which of the following was NOT one of them?

a. Google Gulp, a drink that optimized your use of the Google search engine by increasing your intelligence.
b. Google Romance, which offered a “soulmate search.”
c. PigeonRank, the technology behind its PageRank systems.
d. Googleplex, a search engine dedicated to the movie industry.

7. In 1998, radio shock jocks Opie and Anthony reported that Boston mayor Thomas Menino had what?

a. Had been killed in a car accident.
b. Had been arrested on drug charges.
c. Had resigned.
d. Was gay.

8. In 2005, a fake news story was posted on the official NASA website purporting to have pictures of what?

a. Microscopic life on Venus
b. Water on Mars
c. A 10th planet
d. A ring around Earth

9.  In 2003, Hollywood Squares producers played an April Fools joke on host Tom Bergeron and the stars by doing what?

a. Hiring actors to appear as contestants
b. Momentarily having all the studio lights go out.
c. Having the teleprompter copy changed to Pig Latin.
d. Having Whoopi Goldberg wear a blonde wig.

10. On April 1, 2008, Jeopardy! played an April Fools’ Day joke by having Alex Trebek appear with what?

a. A glass of wine
b. A gold tooth
c. A co-host who resembled Vanna White
d. A fake moustache

Answers:
1. b. When asked about the sale, White House press secretary Mike McCurry reportedly replied tongue-in-cheek that the Lincoln Memorial also had been sold and would henceforth be known as the “Lincoln Mercury Memorial.”
2. a. It ran in 2008.
3. a. The first letter of each word in the article subhead spelled out that the article was an April Fools’ Day joke.
4. c. Not only did customers order the new burgers, but some specifically requested the original, “right-handed” burger.
5. c. The program claimed that the spaghetti weevil, a despised pest, had been eradicated. A large number of people contacted the BBC wanting to know how to cultivate their own spaghetti trees.
6. d. Google perpetrated a, b, and c in 2005, 2006 and 2002, respectively.
7. a. Menino happened to be on a flight at the time, which lent credence to the prank because he could not be reached. The rumor spread quickly across the city, eventually causing news stations to issue alerts denying the hoax. The pair was fired shortly thereafter.
8. b. The picture actually was just one of a glass of water on a Mars candy bar.
9. a. They were supposedly two of the most difficult contestants ever!
10. d. The false mustache was a reference to the minor controversy that followed when he shaved his off in 2001. The fake was gone by the Double Jeopardy round.
Source: wikipedia.org