April Fool's Day Quiz

7/30/2019 April Fool's Day Quiz

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ANSWERS:

1: Don't Disturb the Squirrels (April Fools!)Perpetrated by Westdeutsche Rundfunk, a Cologne radio station, in 1993.

2: Corporate Tattoos (April Fools!)Reported byAll Things Considered, on National Public Radio, in 1994.

3: Crustless Bread (True)This actually is a new product recently announced by Sara Lee.

4: Pet Tax (April Fools!)Perpetrated by WIOQ, A Philadelphia radio station, in 2002. But actually this is an old prank.For instance, it was also perpetrated by WZPL, an Indianapolis radio station, in 1993.

5: Chicken Manure-Powered Electrical Plant (True)

In 1991 Mitsubishi Bank in London sought investors to back a 22 million pound loan to fundFibropower. Because Mitsubishi Bank publicized the offer around April 1, many investorsassumed they were joking.

6: Prehistoric Penguin Murals (True)The penguin murals were found in 1991 by deep-sea divers exploring a cave 7.5 milessoutheast of Marseilles.

7: Alabama Changes Value of Pi (April Fools!)Reported in the 1998 issue ofNew Mexicans for Science and Reason, but before long it hadspread throughout the internet. The Alabama legislature received thousands of angry callsfrom people who believed this story to be true.

8: Vodka Bars (April Fools!)Reported by theItar-Tass Russian News Agency in 1994. Oddly enough, in a case of lifeimitating art, a South Korean brewer announced in 2002 that it had perfected a form ofchewable rice wine.

9: Bank Teller Fees (April Fools!)Advertised in 1999 in theJournal-Inquirerby the Savings Bank of Rockville, a Connecticut-

based bank. Reportedly many customers were convinced that it was true. One woman even

cancelled her account to protest the fee.

10: The Tooth Telephone (True)Invented by Jimmy Loizeau and James Auger, researchers at MIT Media Lab Europe. Not yetavailable for consumers.

11: Karate experts collect bus fares (True)A strategy implemented in 1993 by the city of Chernivtsy in western Ukraine following anumber of attacks on bus inspectors.

12: Operation Fake Tourist (True)

A 'guerrilla marketing' tactic adopted by Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd. in 2002to help spread the word about its new mobile phone that doubles as a camera. Teams of actors


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hang around landmarks such as the Empire State Building asking passersby to snap theirphoto.

13: Whistling Carrots (April Fools!)Advertised by Tesco, a British supermarket chain, in a half-page advertisement in The Sun in

2002.

14: Shark Breeding Experiment (April Fools!)Reported by theHerald-News in Roscommon, Michigan in 1981.

15: Carrots reclassified as a fruit (True)Bureaucrats in the European Union did classify carrots as a fruit in a 1979 directive,apparently because the Portuguese use carrots to make jam, and anything used to make jam, intheir eyes, must be a fruit.

16: Purple Carrots (True)

In 2002 Sainsbury began marketing purple carrots. But carrots have actually come in purplevarieties for thousands of years. The orange ones are the newcomers, bred to be that color inthe 1500s by Dutch growers paying homage to their royal family, the House of Orange.


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1: Don't Disturb the Squirrels

In 1993 city officials in Cologne, Germany imposed a new regulation on people joggingthrough the city park. Runners were required to pace themselves to go no faster than six mph.Any faster, the city officials cautioned, could disturb the squirrels who were in the middle oftheir mating season.

2: Corporate Tattoos

The Pepsi-Cola Company, in search of more innovative ways to reach out to youngconsumers, once experimented with offering teenagers an intriguing deal. The companysponsored teenagers to tattoo themselves with its corporate logo. In return for permanently

branding themselves, the teenagers received a lifetime 10% discount on the company'sproducts. Teenagers were said to have responded enthusiastically to the offer.

3: Crustless Bread

For those who just can't stand the taste of crusts, and are too lazy to cut them off themselves,

Sara Lee introduced in 2002 the ultimate in convenience: crustless bread. Available in storeseverywhere!

4: Pet Tax

The city of Philadelphia, faced with a looming budget shortfall, last year announced a new taxtargeted at pet owners. The owners will be charged a base fee of $10 per pet, and then $1extra for every additional pound the pet weighs over ten pounds. Failure to pay the tax couldresult in the euthanization of the pet.

5: Chicken Manure-Powered Electrical Plant

In 1991 Mitsubishi Bank contacted venture capitalists about an exciting new investmentopportunity:Fibropower, a 14-megawatt generating plant fueled entirely by chicken poop.Finally, the investment prospectus boasted, a way to put unwanted chicken manure to gooduse. Suggestions that this was a chickens**t idea were ignored.

6: Prehistoric Penguin Murals

In 1991 prehistoric murals were discovered on the walls of an underwater cave in easternFrance revealing that penguins and man once lived side-by-side in that region. Historians,accustomed to seeing prehistoric depictions of animals such as bison and deer, wereextremely surprised to find the penguins.

7: Alabama Changes Value of Pi

In 1998 the Alabama state legislature voted to change the value of the mathematical constantpi from 3.14159 to the Biblical value of 3.0. NASA engineers in Huntsvile, Alabama werereportedly disturbed by the decision.

8: Vodka Bars

Recently a Russian beverage company announced a new product designed to appeal morespecifically to Russian tastes: chewy Vodka bars. The company hopes the candy bars willcompete successfully against popular western imports such as Mars and Snickers bars. TheVodka bars will be available in lemon, coconut, and salted cucumber flavors.
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9: Bank Teller Fees

In 1999 a Connecticut-based bank announced that due to rising costs it would be forced tocharge a $5 fee every time a customer visited a live teller. The bank promised that the fee

would actually help to improve the quality of customer service.

10: The Tooth Telephone

Engineers recently unveiled the world's first tooth telephone, perfect for those who want totalk hands-free while on the go. When implanted into a tooth, the tiny device vibrates to letthe user know there's a call. Users speak normally, and the tiny microphone picks up theirvoice. Incoming sounds are transferred to the inner ear by means of bone resonance.

11: Karate experts collect bus faresFaced with a growing number of unruly passengers, one town in Ukraine recently adopted a

unique solution: Karate-trained fare collectors. The number of passengers trying to ridewithout paying was said to be down sharply ever since the new collectors were introduced.

12: Operation Fake Tourist

Convinced that word of mouth is the best form of advertising, Sony announced last year that itwill hire actors to use the company's new camera at major tourist attractions. While posing astourists, the actors will ask random passersby to take their picture with the Sony camera. Oncea passerby agrees, the actors then begin to speak effusively about the features of the camera.

13: Whistling Carrots

Tired of overcooking the carrots? Now there's a solution. British scientists announced lastyear the development of a genetically modified 'whistling carrot.' Tapered airholes inside thecarrot cause it to whistle when properly cooked.

14: Shark Breeding ExperimentIn 1981 the National Biological Foundation released two thousand radio-tagged sharks(including blue sharks, hammerheads, and a few great whites) into selected Michigan lakes inorder to study the cold-water breeding habits of the sharks. In the press release announcingthe experiment, the Foundation suggested that local fishermen and swimmers should exercisecaution around the sharks.

15: Carrots reclassified as a fruit

In 1979 officials in the European Union confirmed what many have long suspected: thatcarrots are not, in fact, a vegetable, but are actually a variety of fruit. The officials urged thatappropriate reclassification efforts should begin at once.

16: Purple Carrots

For those yearning to add a colorful splash to their meals, a British supermarket announcedlast year that it will soon be selling purple carrots. The store hopes that the new offering willappeal to fickle children who have grown bored by the orange variety.
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April Fool's Day Quiz