Although April Fools’ Day isn’t a national holiday in any country, it is celebrated and well known in Canada, Europe, Australia, the United States and many other areas. Here are some pranks from each region along with some you can try on your own. It’s funny watching people get pranked.
April Fools’ Day is one of my favorite holidays. I spend countless hours online looking for the best pranks to play on my friends, my family and random strangers I run into. It’s one of those holidays that can make you feel happy no matter what you’re doing. You may be feeling sad, then someone turns on the sink and gets sprayed in the face because you covered the bottom half with tape. You may be sad then you see that there is a new Cheetos-scented perfume and you giggle at the thought, even if it is an April Fools’ joke. And one more, Domino’s says you can now eat their pizza boxes. If you’re not smiling, at least your mind has gone away from whatever it is that could’ve been bringing you down.
Canada: The first ‘Coin on the Pavement Gag’ happened here on April 1, 1961. A Vancouver Sun photographer welded a coin to the ground and took photos as people tried and failed to pick up the coin. Classic if you ask me. Maybe try a $20 bill.
United Kingdom: On April 1, 2014, Ocado Technology released the “World’s Largest Tablet”. The 42” device was called the sLablet. This video shows a man carrying the giant device on his back. If your eyes are going bad, this is the perfect solution. Too bad it was an April Fools’ joke. My grandma could really use the size of that screen.
Australia: Several ads in Australian papers showed a space-saving technology for parking cars on April 1, 2003. How did they save the space? By parking vertically on the side of buildings. A press release and jingle were released as well as a demonstration where a car was actually parked on the side of a building in Sydney, Australia. I wouldn’t try actually doing this one.
On April 1, 1998, Alabama changed the value of Pi to 3.0 for religious reasons, or so everyone thought once the “state legislature law” spread across the internet. Angry e-mails and phone calls began almost immediately. Again, it was just an April Fools’ Day prank.
Countries around the world celebrate this day of jokes, which I think is pretty awesome. Here’s a link to some pranks that you should try yourself. Make someone laugh.
Growing up celebrating April Fool’s Day I always kind of thought it was a made up holiday only celebrated in the U.S. I found it interested that certain examples of pranks are actually a tradition in other countries, and this holiday is in fact celebrated. Are there any pranks that are well known in America? My roommates and I definitely take advantage of this day to play some innocent pranks on each other, I might have to use the fake coin trick in a bigger area next year!
Ha that’s awesome! I wish I knew about this article earlier because then I could’ve maybe used a prank. I wonder which country is the most malicious in their pranks haha!
This article is hilarious. I wish I could’ve seen this earlier. The tablet prank could come in hand for many.
Not only is this article informative, it’s also a really fun topic! I had no idea that other countries celebrated April Fools Day to the extent that the United States does. It’s really interesting to know about the different pranks that get played around the world. Really unique and fun article!