[imagesource:flickr]

In case you missed it, it was April Fools’ Day on Saturday.

You might have spotted a big-name brand in the throes of making its own mark on the foolish holiday.

Despite a rising tide of online disinformation, companies are still out there feeling compelled to make up lies to get attention. Granted, some of the pranks and jokes land softly and sweetly, but others fall flat on their bottom-line butts.

While The Sun went ahead and announced the ‘launch’ of Prince Harry and Meghan’s new video game “Megxit: Call of Duke-y” in which the royal couple try to reach California while dodging obstacles, including rival royals and the media, The Washinton Post went the other way and dumped on “corporate marketing specialists who use the occasion to deceive their customers with fictitious announcements in the name of ‘humour'”.

Flop or fly, we are taking a look at the jokes that did the rounds from brands like Tinder, Maccy D’s, Ikea and many, many more.

Tinder capitalised on women’s most resounding complaint about finding men on the dating platform, sending out an announcement that they were going fish-free:

 

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A post shared by Tinder (@tinder)

Watch the bros scuttle to find replacement pics without any icky sliminess. It must have been a feat as marvellous as the sardine run, I bet.

McDonald’s got in on the fun and unveiled its new Big McNugget Boot, “the most flavoursome shoe of SS23”:

📣Calling all fashionistas 📣

We’ve got the must have drop of the season.

Unveiling the Big McNugget Boot, the most flavoursome shoe of SS23. Releasing exclusively through the McDonald’s App this Monday. pic.twitter.com/1hjFuFZOfG

— McDonald’s UK (@McDonaldsUK) April 1, 2023

For anyone under a rock, that is a reference to the big red booties that are making it big in the fashion world. Don’t ask why, just accept them as the next Croc fad:

The MSCHF Big Red Boots have been going viral all over social media. They release February 16th for $350 pic.twitter.com/W1AMXImI10

— SAY CHEESE! 👄🧀 (@SaycheeseDGTL) February 7, 2023

That is not a joke, no.

Star Trek’s George Takei made jokes though, bringing this year’s biggest Oscar winner into the fold:

Pity, I would be excited to watch Nothing, Nowhere, Not at All.

Other famous folks were found among the chaos, with a tweet from an Oasis fan account fooling more than 3 000 people that the estranged Gallagher brothers enjoyed a night out together:

According to reports…

Noel Gallagher was spotted in Chiltern Firehouse, London last night on a night out with Brother Liam Gallagher & Debbie.

Could the reunion be almost there?! pic.twitter.com/HeoMBz5d9W

— Anything Oasis Official (@AnythingOasis) March 31, 2023

Meanwhile, somewhere on Reddit, Rick Astley decided to dedicate the next decade of his life to kittens:

Duolingo was cute and said it had partnered with the streaming service Peacock on a fake dating show called Love Language: The catch? in which none of the singletons speak the same language as one another and therefore must use Duolingo to communicate:

The Guardian also noted some historical landmarks and museums taking part, with the Eiffel Tower’s official Twitter page announcing it would be transformed into the world’s biggest slide:

🇫🇷 Vous n’êtes pas prêts pour ma nouvelle attraction de l’été ! Le plus haut toboggan du monde sera installé sur mon sommet à partir du 1er juillet !

🌐You’re not ready for this! The tallest slide in the world will be installed on my summit from July 1st!

📽️@origiful pic.twitter.com/MrwlmYvtic

— La tour Eiffel (@LaTourEiffel) April 1, 2023

London’s Royal Albert Hall claimed that newly unearthed documents show Churchill wanted to use Hitler’s lost testicle as a propaganda tool during the second world war.

REVEALED: Winston Churchill wrote to the Hall in 1940 asking if we really had Hitler’s ball. https://t.co/1cy0lcWKoC pic.twitter.com/9gef6UUZkH

— Royal Albert Hall (@RoyalAlbertHall) April 1, 2023

Despite what you might have heard, there are unfortunately no giant squirrels in Zion National Park:

 

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A post shared by Zion National Park (@zionnps)

Ikea also added to the madness:

 

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A post shared by IKEA USA (@ikeausa)

The day unleashed a host of new products that you will never have the opportunity to purchase, including bad seatmate plane insurance, car seat covers laced with caffeine, bean-and-toast flavoured tea, a shirt with a special pocket for pizza slices, an alarm clock that wakes you up to the sound of power tools, or a Spam candle.

Honestly, with all these deep fakes and AI-generated images, every day is April Fool’s Day.

[source:washingtonpost&guardian]