A meeting with former US president Barack Obama, celebrity deaths, a new burger ‘available until yesterday’ and a once-in-a-lifetime weather event are all possible today for the gullible and easily deceived.
April Fools’ Day is in full swing as the Australian public and brands try and fool each other with both outlandish and sort of believable fake claims.
Government agencies, reality TV shows, news organisations and fast food restaurants were among the many joining in on the fun.
April Fools’ Day has deceived many across the years – the BBC famously convinced its viewers that spaghetti was grown on trees in 1957, while in 1989, Virgin Records chairman Richard Branson made Londoners think a UFO was flying over the city.
McDonald’s deceived their followers with the ‘McFry’ (pictured), an item inspired by a popular fast food hack of putting french fries on a burger
Fast food giant McDonald’s made a splash in the morning by announcing an enticing new burger that was ‘available until yesterday’ and influenced by a famous fast food hack.
The ‘McFry’ burger, a classic quarter pounder with added french fries, was just reasonable enough to fool some, while many others admitted they would actually order the item.
‘The ultimate Mac-hack now comes made to order, as we take the classic Quarter Pounder and stack it with Australia’s fave fries. No mess. No fuss. No worries,’ the announcement on Facebook reads.
‘Get your hands on the McFry today. Available until yesterday.’
‘Rude! I actually want to eat this,’ one social media user wrote.
‘You joke, yet it would actually be a great seller,’ a second user wrote.
‘In all seriousness though… yum!’ a third wrote.
Some Perth locals were fooled by a social media account that claimed the city was going to be the first Southern Hemisphere city to witness the Aurora Borealis (stock image)
A social media account that updates Perth’s weather, Perth Weather Live, attempted to deceive it’s followers by claiming that the Aurora Borealis – or ‘Northern Lights’ – would be visible over the city’s sky.
‘Perth may be the first city in the southern hemisphere to ever witness the Aurora Borealis (the Northern Lights) due to a rare, once in a lifetime example of extreme tropospheric ducting,’ the Facebook page wrote.
‘Academic Sources: None. We made it up lol.’
One user admitted they had been fooled by the post, writing: ‘Got me. I even read that gobbledygook.’
‘I really should have coffee before looking at my newsfeed, so disappointed,’ another user wrote.
Jim Minns, the brother of newly-elected state premier of NSW, Chris Minns, mourned the very-much still alive Daryl Somers
The brother of recently elected NSW state premier, Chris Minns, even got in the April Fool’s action by grieving the death of the very-much still alive Daryl Somers.
A recipient of the OAM (Order of Australia Medal) and a triple Gold Logie Award winner, Mr Somers is an icon of Australian television and music.
He was immortalised in Australian culture for his time on Hey Hey It’s Saturday from 1979 to 1999.
‘Will be missed! #RIP,’ Jim Minns wrote on Twitter.
‘Every damn year,’ one mistaken user wrote.
‘Is this correct?’ Another commented, Mr Minns replying with a photo of today’s date circled.
April Fools’ Day came early for Weekend Sunrise with host, Matt Doran, pranking his co-host, Monique Ryan, (both pictured) to believe that they were interviewing Barack Obama
An impersonator from LA, Reggie Brown (pictured), was dressed up as President Obama, while the quality of the video call was distorted to help with the ruse
April Fools’ Day came early for Seven’s Weekend Sunrise with Matt Doran catching his co-host, Monique Ryan, off guard with a surprise interview with Barack Obama on Thursday.
An impersonator, Reggie Brown, was dressed and covered in make-up to appear like the former US president. Meanwhile, distorted video quality helped deceive Ms Ryan to believe she was talking to the former leader of the free world.
‘Will this work? Probably not. If it does, will it be delicious? Absolutely,’ Doran said in the lead up to the prank.
‘Mr Obama, what an absolute thrill for us,’ Doran told the impersonator.
He couldn’t keep a smirk off his face while Ms Ryan attempted to keep her cool.
‘Just before we let you go,’ Mr Doran said, ‘it might be time to let Mon know that we’re actually speaking Reggie from LA who is the top Obama impersonator.’
Caught hook line and sinker, Ms Ryan blamed ‘tech issues’ and the ‘extraordinary acting ability’ of Mr Brown.
The award for most people fooled might go to reality TV show, Farmer Wants a Wife, for ‘announcing’ that Home and Away character, Alf Stewart, would be joining the show (pictured)
Reality TV show, Farmer Wants a Life, might take the cake for most people fooled with a post to their social media accounts claiming that Home and Away character, Alf Stewart, was joining the cast of farmers looking for love.
Played by Ray Meagher, the character Alf Stewart has been on the show since the first episode aired in January 1998, giving Mr Meagher the Guinness World Record for the longest-serving actor in an Australian serial.
‘Say hello to Farmer Alf! All the way from Summer Bay, Alf can’t wait to meet his perfect match,’ the Instagram post reads.
‘Damn i didn’t look at the date i was shell shocked,’ musician, Matt Evans, commented.
‘Good April fools,’ one social media user wrote.
‘I fell too hard for this,’ a second wrote.
Facebook site for Perth locals, Perth is OK, posted a picture of the city’s brand new waterfall that had appeared off one of its braches: ‘Coogee Falls, only 40 minutes from the Perth CBD!’
Facebook site for Perth locals, Perth is OK, posted a picture of the city’s brand new waterfall that had appeared off one of its braches: ‘Coogee Falls, only 40 minutes from the Perth CBD!’
A South American anaconda spotted outside a trail walk on the Sunshine Coast by the Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers (pictured) was not all it appeared to be
The Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers joined in claiming that a South American anaconda had made its way to the Buderim Falls in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
‘Keep Away From The Buderim Falls Area,’ the Facebook post reads.
‘We have just received a photo of a HUGE Anaconda that has been spotted near the entrance of Buderim Falls.
‘We are on our way down to try and find this exotic species so that it can be handed into the department.’
The reasonably believable photoshop-job had fooled many, with some even becoming upset about the snake being in Australia.
‘They should never be in our country for any reason, people are doing the wrong thing,’ an upset user wrote.
‘I’ll take it, that has to be one of my favorite species,’ another duped user wrote.
‘You got me. I’m a bit slow this morning. Now I’m just disappointed that I can’t go and look at it,’ one user wrote.
This year’s pranks had a high standard to meet that was set last year, with announcements of crime-fighting koalas by Robert Irwin and cheaper airfares thanks to ‘sky-diving seats’ from Webjet.
