Ah, April Fool’s. Or as the LA Times calls it, Don’t Trust the Media Day. There is a long and established tradition of punking on the first of the fourth, as the Independent’s piece on classic April Fool’s stunts shows. And here’s a round-up of a few good’uns we noticed in 2012.
Grabaseat’s stand-up fares
Grabaseat announced Straight Up Fares, for passengers who don’t mind standing on a long flight (budget airline Ryan Air has actually made legitimate attempts to get this going).
Intercity’s triple-decker bus fleet
Intercity announced New Zealand’s first triple-decker bus, a $50 million venture. Naked Bus also announced it would add barbecues and a mini-kitchens to its buses in order to sell sausages at rest stops.
Virgin’s journey to the centre of the earth
Richard Branson announced Virgin Volcanic, a screw-shaped vessel that would plunge into the core of an active volcano, with Tom Hanks, Will.i.am and Seth Green making up the first expedition.
Google 8-bit maps – and Gmail Tap
Google served up two nicely-executed pranks: it announced 8-bit maps and a binary language for writing emails.
Over in Australia, Telstra introduced the Gold Phone, Mini sold its countryman one piece at a time and Ikea recalled its left-handed allen key (via Mumbrella).
Prime suggested Dan Carter was off to league on its Super Rugby highlights show, Google News got sucked in, and a few savvy StopPress readers may have picked up on the fact that we’re victims of anniversary creep and announced the NZRU’s launch of a new fragrance called Scrummâge.
What did we miss? Any others that deserve a mention?