5 Noteworthy April Fool’s Day Pranks From Companies

doritos bold water

From eHarmony to Doritos and everyone in between, many companies have taken advantage of April Fool’s Day by making outlandish (and oftentimes silly) announcements. While there are countless, noteworthy April Fool’s Day pranks organized by companies, here’s our pick of 5 of the best.

1The BBC Reports on Noodle Harvesting

In 1957, the BBC reported that Swiss farmers were experiencing a record spaghetti crop and showed footage of people harvesting noodles from trees; numerous viewers were fooled.

The reporter explained how each year the end of March is a very anxious time for Spaghetti harvesters all over Europe as severe frost can impair the flavor of the spaghetti.

He also explained how each strand of spaghetti always grows to the same length thanks to years of hard work by generations of growers.

What makes this joke particularly interesting is that it is believed to be one of the first times the television was used to stage an April Fools Day hoax.

2Taco Bell Announces Purchase of the Liberty Bell

In 1996, Taco Bell, the fast-food restaurant chain, duped people when it announced it had agreed to purchase Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell and intended to rename it the Taco Liberty Bell.

In mid-March of 96, the company’s PR agency, Paine & Associates, designed a full-page newspaper ad announcing Taco Bell’s intent to purchase the Liberty Bell. On March 30, two days prior to publication, the agency sent the ad to six prominent newspapers: The Philadelphia Inquirer, New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, and USA Today. More than 650 print outlets and 400 broadcast outlets covered the story, exposing over 70 million Americans to Taco Bell’s brand.

3Burger King Introduces Left-Handed Whopper

What exactly is a left-handed whopper? Well, as reported by the AP in 1998, the special burger “will look just like its regular burger, but will be made to fit more comfortably in the left hand. Burger King estimates more than 32 million left-handed Americans could benefit from the reduced spillage effect of the southpaw sandwich.”

It’s been reported that the fast food chain received scores of requests for the new burger.

4eHarmony Takes “Puppy Love” to a New Level


Grant Langston, CEO of eHarmony unveiled “Furever Love” in 2018, a Canine Compatibility Companion Service designed to get pups into long-term relationships. The prank even featured profiles and pictures, plus an explanation of eHarmony’s canine algorithms, a scholarly report on “Love and Canine Relationships in America,” and data from a proprietary bark and tail wag measurement scale.

5Doritos Introduces Bold Water

Doritos grabbed everyone’s attention when they introduced their line of bottled water with the clever tagline: “You’re 60% water, make every drop of it bold.”