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It's OK To Be Paranoid on April Fools' Day.
Los Angeles, CA
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
"On April First it's OK to be suspicious about believing anything, too good to be true!" According to a psychologist who has researched past April Fools' Pranks that turned sour.
Most of us have fun playing harmless April Fools' tricks on each other but some folks inflict cruel and unusual punishment on their friends when their prank gets out of control." says Robert R. Butterworth, Ph.D., who has developed a list of questions that should be asked before planning an April Fools' prank:
. Could the prank cause undue anxiety when uncovered?
. Could it be misinterpreted by others as a serious event?
. Does it involve deceiving more than a few people?
. Is an element of fear or risk involved?
. If you were on the receiving end of the prank, would you be upset?
Past April Fools' Day Pranks That Backfired:
The University of Miami student newspaper ran a prank story saying Manuel Noriega was paroled on work-release and would teach, 'Geography of Coca-Growing Regions' -- Students believing the story authentic, threatened to quit the university.
In Norway, two men were freed from the Oslo jail after a guard fell for an April Fools' prankster, who pretending to be a police officer, telephoned a jail guard, telling him to release the prisoners.
In Seattle, a TV station broadcasts a special report that, the Space Needle had fallen, crushing nearby buildings. Frightened callers jammed the station's phone lines checking for survivors, only to be told that the report was an April Fools' comedy skit.
Two police offices are suspended in Utah for placing invisible dye, that turns dark purple when it comes in contact with skin -- On toilet seats in county restrooms as an April Fools' joke. People who's skin turned purple thinking they had contacted a mysterious disease, weren't laughing.
Navy patrol boats are summoned to Florida's Key West Harbor after a radio station reports a sighting of 35 whales. Unsuspecting residents mobilize to prevent the wales from becoming beached. The announcement turns out to be an April Fools' hoax.
An April Fools' prankster distributes a news-release on Florida Governor Bob Martinez's letterhead, abolishing the office of Lieutenant Governor. The Governor wasn't amused.
Riot police are called out in Seri Lanka to control two-thousand angry readers that were demanding cash prizes in a numbers game that turned out to be an April Fools' joke run by a local newspaper.
A newspaper columnist writes about a guaranteed method for picking lotto numbers. Gullible readers get mad when his April Fools' Day article fails to make them winners.
Four college freshmen in Florida who steal a fiberglass statue of Ronald McDonald as an April Fools' prank get arrested by police.
The Origins of April Fools' Day:
April Fools' Day originated in the 16th century due to the confusion which resulted when the Julian Calendar was replaced by a modern calendar that moved the date of the New Year's festivities from the end of March to the first of January.
The first April Fools' were those folks who did not make a timely adjustment to the new calendar and continued to celebrate the New Year feast on April first. Under the new calendar, people began sending 'fake' gifts and celebrating a 'mock' New Year that eventually turned into playing jokes on each other as we know today. The ritual was never intended to be cruel or demeaning but a harmless springtime release from the desolate bonds of winter.
What really happened on April Fools' Day -- No Joke!
. Jim and Tammy Fae Bakker were married.
. President Bush inaugurated the White House Horseshoe Pit
. The annual St. Stupid's Day Parade is held in San Francisco.
. Two sisters from the State of Washington, win 3.2 million in Las Vegas, but phone calls to friends and relatives announcing the winnings are greeted with skepticism.
. In 1988, one Temple University professor refused to believe that he had won a top teaching award because it was conveyed to him by telephone on April Fools' Day.
Past April Fools' Creative Pranks:
Employees at Sun Microsystems, in Mountain view, Ca. are no strangers to April Fools' practical jokes. One year they converted a vice president's office into a golf course. On another April Fool's Day, they parked an executives's Ferrari in the middle of the company's pond and in 1989 they managed to wrap a major portion of a two-story building in plastic sheets.
Two American doctors, writing in an April 1, 1989 edition of the British Medical Journal, suggest that hospitals use blimps instead of helicopter ambulances. The physicians noted that the blimps also could flash advertising messages such as 'Same Day Surgery' to increase marketing potential.
Headline from New York's WNEW-FM newsroom on April 1, 1989 "Donald Trump Acquires the Yankees from George Steinbrenner."
In Britain, on April Fools' Day, the news media goes to great length to fool the public always with great seriousness: A story in The April 1, 1987 edition of the London Daily Mail -- A goldfish leaped out of his bowl and had taken a bite out of a 12-year-old girl's hand. A photograph showed the shaken girl holding up her bandaged limb.
The classic British prank occurred on April Fools' Day in 1957. The BBC TV news featured a segment on, 'A record spaghetti harvest in Europe.' The film-clip showed workers picking strands of spaghetti from trees and piling them into baskets. The BBC was flooded with callers who wanted to know how to grow spaghetti at home.
The famous HOLLYWOOD sign in California was changed to HA'LLYWOOD.
MTV played their video's Upside down
If in a restaurant on April Fools' Day never order:
. Baloney or beef gravy ice cream.
. Chocolate spaghetti.
. Meat loaf chocolate cake.
. Blue oatmeal.
. Chocolate fish.
Dr. Butterworth advises on April Fools' Day, "Don't believe wedding proposals or weather forecasts, get sent on a Fools' errand after a 'bucket of steam' or pigeon's milk,' and be wary about picking up money on the street -- It's most probably glued to the sidewalk."
Most of us have fun playing harmless April Fools' tricks on each other but some folks inflict cruel and unusual punishment on their friends when their prank gets out of control." says Robert R. Butterworth, Ph.D., who has developed a list of questions that should be asked before planning an April Fools' prank:
. Could the prank cause undue anxiety when uncovered?
. Could it be misinterpreted by others as a serious event?
. Does it involve deceiving more than a few people?
. Is an element of fear or risk involved?
. If you were on the receiving end of the prank, would you be upset?
Past April Fools' Day Pranks That Backfired:
The University of Miami student newspaper ran a prank story saying Manuel Noriega was paroled on work-release and would teach, 'Geography of Coca-Growing Regions' -- Students believing the story authentic, threatened to quit the university.
In Norway, two men were freed from the Oslo jail after a guard fell for an April Fools' prankster, who pretending to be a police officer, telephoned a jail guard, telling him to release the prisoners.
In Seattle, a TV station broadcasts a special report that, the Space Needle had fallen, crushing nearby buildings. Frightened callers jammed the station's phone lines checking for survivors, only to be told that the report was an April Fools' comedy skit.
Two police offices are suspended in Utah for placing invisible dye, that turns dark purple when it comes in contact with skin -- On toilet seats in county restrooms as an April Fools' joke. People who's skin turned purple thinking they had contacted a mysterious disease, weren't laughing.
Navy patrol boats are summoned to Florida's Key West Harbor after a radio station reports a sighting of 35 whales. Unsuspecting residents mobilize to prevent the wales from becoming beached. The announcement turns out to be an April Fools' hoax.
An April Fools' prankster distributes a news-release on Florida Governor Bob Martinez's letterhead, abolishing the office of Lieutenant Governor. The Governor wasn't amused.
Riot police are called out in Seri Lanka to control two-thousand angry readers that were demanding cash prizes in a numbers game that turned out to be an April Fools' joke run by a local newspaper.
A newspaper columnist writes about a guaranteed method for picking lotto numbers. Gullible readers get mad when his April Fools' Day article fails to make them winners.
Four college freshmen in Florida who steal a fiberglass statue of Ronald McDonald as an April Fools' prank get arrested by police.
The Origins of April Fools' Day:
April Fools' Day originated in the 16th century due to the confusion which resulted when the Julian Calendar was replaced by a modern calendar that moved the date of the New Year's festivities from the end of March to the first of January.
The first April Fools' were those folks who did not make a timely adjustment to the new calendar and continued to celebrate the New Year feast on April first. Under the new calendar, people began sending 'fake' gifts and celebrating a 'mock' New Year that eventually turned into playing jokes on each other as we know today. The ritual was never intended to be cruel or demeaning but a harmless springtime release from the desolate bonds of winter.
What really happened on April Fools' Day -- No Joke!
. Jim and Tammy Fae Bakker were married.
. President Bush inaugurated the White House Horseshoe Pit
. The annual St. Stupid's Day Parade is held in San Francisco.
. Two sisters from the State of Washington, win 3.2 million in Las Vegas, but phone calls to friends and relatives announcing the winnings are greeted with skepticism.
. In 1988, one Temple University professor refused to believe that he had won a top teaching award because it was conveyed to him by telephone on April Fools' Day.
Past April Fools' Creative Pranks:
Employees at Sun Microsystems, in Mountain view, Ca. are no strangers to April Fools' practical jokes. One year they converted a vice president's office into a golf course. On another April Fool's Day, they parked an executives's Ferrari in the middle of the company's pond and in 1989 they managed to wrap a major portion of a two-story building in plastic sheets.
Two American doctors, writing in an April 1, 1989 edition of the British Medical Journal, suggest that hospitals use blimps instead of helicopter ambulances. The physicians noted that the blimps also could flash advertising messages such as 'Same Day Surgery' to increase marketing potential.
Headline from New York's WNEW-FM newsroom on April 1, 1989 "Donald Trump Acquires the Yankees from George Steinbrenner."
In Britain, on April Fools' Day, the news media goes to great length to fool the public always with great seriousness: A story in The April 1, 1987 edition of the London Daily Mail -- A goldfish leaped out of his bowl and had taken a bite out of a 12-year-old girl's hand. A photograph showed the shaken girl holding up her bandaged limb.
The classic British prank occurred on April Fools' Day in 1957. The BBC TV news featured a segment on, 'A record spaghetti harvest in Europe.' The film-clip showed workers picking strands of spaghetti from trees and piling them into baskets. The BBC was flooded with callers who wanted to know how to grow spaghetti at home.
The famous HOLLYWOOD sign in California was changed to HA'LLYWOOD.
MTV played their video's Upside down
If in a restaurant on April Fools' Day never order:
. Baloney or beef gravy ice cream.
. Chocolate spaghetti.
. Meat loaf chocolate cake.
. Blue oatmeal.
. Chocolate fish.
Dr. Butterworth advises on April Fools' Day, "Don't believe wedding proposals or weather forecasts, get sent on a Fools' errand after a 'bucket of steam' or pigeon's milk,' and be wary about picking up money on the street -- It's most probably glued to the sidewalk."
Robert Butterworth
Director
Robert R. Butterworth, Ph.D.
Los Angeles, CA
(213) 487-7339
213-477-2340
