|
Worst April Fool Hoaxes
There have been April Fool pranks and hoaxes that
have gone wrong. It is the magnitude and sensitivity scale of the hoax
that makes it pleasant or unpleasant. Pranks should be able to make
others laugh including the victim/s. Any statement or thoughtless action
that hurts somebody, plays with their feelings and emotions or is
mirthless are detestable on any first of April or April Fool's Day.
- A year after Ochoco creek was flooded and hundreds of houses were
damaged in 1998, DJs at Oregon radio station KSJJ announced that the
Ochoco dam had burst and there were strong chances of all the nearby
areas being flooded. There was widespread panic and as people
prepared to flee, DJs admitted it to be just a joke. Well, no one
was amused by their prank.
- After his divorce, Randy Wood was still bitter with his ex-wife
and decided to pull a prank on her and really managed to frighten
her in the process. He called her up and asked her to come over, as
he wanted to show her something. When she arrived there, she was
terrified to see him hanging by a noose from a tree in his front
yard. She immediately dialed 911 only to found out later that this
fake hanging using a lineman's harness was only staged to scare her.
Randy was fined with $1,000 and a year in jail for his prank.
- Glenn Howlett working in the London City Hall rushed back from
his vacation when he received the memo from his office that the
deadline of the big report he was working on, was pre-poned and was
going to be due early in just two weeks. Though, the memo was dated
1st of April, he could not guess that it was just a prank of his
colleagues. He worked himself into such a frenzy and panic that he
became susceptible to heart palpitations, collapsed from the stress
and had to take leave from work. Too much of work and risk to his
health made him file for an early retirement, only to realize later
that the memo was just a joke. He later sued everyone for damagers
forcing City Hall to ban his employees from pulling any more pranks.
- Saddam Hussein and his son Uday have been alleged to fool Iraqi
citizens on 1st of April for four consecutive years from 1998 to
2001. Uday owns a newspaper known as 'Babil', which announced to its
readers in 1998 that President Clinton had decided to lift sanctions
against Iraq. Later, admitting this to be a joke was not a good
enough consolation to those whose hopes had been built up high on
the news. In 1999, the readers had to swallow the joke that the
monthly food rations would be supplemented to include bananas,
Pepsi, and chocolate. These 'jokes' were repeated in 2000 and 2001
respectively, which was enough to break the spirit of anybody living
in desolate conditions and readily lapped up any dose of hope that
they were offered.
- The Opinia newspaper was heartless enough to try to fool families
waiting to be reunited with their loved ones that had been
imprisoned in Baia Mare Prison in Romania for several years by
announcing in April 2000 that the prisoners are finally going to be
released. About sixty people traveled long distance to the prison to
greet their near and dear ones only to be told that it was just an
April Fool prank! Later, the 'Opinia' published an apology for not
thinking of the consequences well enough.
|
|
