As you know, today is 1st April: April Fool’s Day. Some of the best ever jokes played out that fooled thousands of people include…
1. Edison’s food creator, 1878
American newspaper The Daily Graphic published, in 1878, news of a technological breakthrough: Thomas Edison had invented “the Food Creator… a machine that will feed the human race!” How, exactly, was unclear, but it would be able to manufacture meat, vegetables, wine and biscuits using only air, water and “common earth”.
A final paragraph in the April article revealed that “the Food Creator” did not in fact exist; but not every reader got that far, and Thomas Edison received “a flood of letters from all parts of the country”, as he wrote to tell the Graphic’s editor. “Very ingenious,” he said.
2. Alaska’s volcano, 1974
In Sitka, Alaska, the volcano Mount Edgecumbe had been dormant for around 9,000 years when, one morning in 1974, residents noticed dark smoke spooling from its top. When a coastguard helicopter flew in to investigate, the pilot saw that 100 tyres had been doused in cooking fuel and set alight in the volcano’s crater.
Meanwhile, around the rim, someone had spray-painted “April Fool” in 50ft letters. It was the careful work of a local joker, Oliver Bickar, who’d been planning the prank for four years.
3. Left-handed burger,1998
Burger King’s 1998 unveiling of a “left-handed Whopper” – a normal burger, with “the condiments rotated 180 degrees” – fooled thousands in the US and UK with left-handers going out of their way to order one, and righties making it clear they’d prefer the original version.
Here’s another good one…
FREE and FULL access to arguably the world’s most successful business growth and marketing system, worth over £6,000 a year to businesses in Essex.
Well, it sounds like an April Fool’s, but actually there’s no fooling around with this.
It’s completely true.
Here at Viewpoint Business Services, we have taken it upon themselves to invest in the world renowned ‘Business Growth System’ and, as a result of doing so, have made it available to businesses in Essex, COMPLETELY FREE OF CHARGE.
Commenting on this innovative approach, Steve Bird, Director of Viewpoint Business Services, said: “Hundreds of good businesses in our region fail every year because of poor financial management and a lack of marketing expertise. For over 10 years we’ve been providing sound financial advice to local businesses, but the key piece of the jigsaw – namely, marketing – was missing. So when we saw the opportunity to tap into this outstanding resource to help the local business community, we jumped at the chance.”
All you have to do to find out how to access the system is visit… www.viewpointaccountants.co.uk or call Steve Bird directly on 01245-258689 and, as an extra-special gift, every business owner that arranges to meet with Viewpoint Business Services will also receive our recently published book titled “Why Businesses Stop Growing And What You Can Do About It”. Read more about this book.
