Seven of today’s best April Fool’s pranks from South Australia and around the country
AUSTRALIA’S leading companies and media outlets have embraced April Fool’s Day, tricking thousands with outlandish announcements and inventions. Here are seven of the best.
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YOU can’t believe anything on April Fool’s Day. It’s a day when pranksters come into their own.
Some of Australia’s leading companies and media outlets got into the fooling spirit this year, tricking the masses with outlandish announcements and inventions.
Here’s some of the best pranks pulled in South Australia and around the country.
Drop bears bred in Adelaide
IT’S every tourist’s worst nightmare: more drop bears.
Adelaide Cleland Wildlife Park this morning announced it had achieved a world first by successfully breeding drop bears, with the birth of twin joeys.
“We’re very proud of what our keepers have achieved,” park manager James Sellers said.
“Drop bears are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity.”
Mr Sellers said the pair were already eating meat, warning visitors and locals alike of the dangers of the endangered koala subspecies.
“It’s a bit of a furphy that drop bears only attack tourists, because they’ll happily go for Australians as well,” he said.
“Smearing Vegemite on your forehead does nothing to protect you, either. If anything, it actually enrages them even more.”
He said it’s hard to tell the difference between a koala and the dreaded drop bear, the main difference being the latter has long talons on its hind feet.
So if you suspect you’ve spotted one, it’s best to leave it alone and keep the kids and pets away.
“If it wants a steak from the barbecue, just give it one,” Mr Sellers warned. Sage advice.
Adelaide Oval to lose scoreboard, hill
RADIO listeners were enraged by a plan to demolish Adelaide Oval’s historic scoreboard and iconic hill to make way for a new grandstand.
Mix 102.3’s Jodie and Soda broke the “news” this morning — and had some high-profile South Australians in on the gag to make it believable.
Tourism and Sport Minister Leon Bignell phoned up, saying the Government would consider the proposal for the new 7000-seat Northern Grandstand.
“One of the criticisms we hear is that visiting teams can’t get tickets to come and see their teams play against the Crows or Port,” Mr Bignell said.
Port Adelaide chairman David Koch said he was “absolutely shocked” by the plan.
“This goes against what we stand for. That hill is Port Adelaide ... that’s the beating heart of Adelaide Oval,” he told Mix102.3.
“That’s what makes it different to a concrete, shallow stadium like the MCG.
“Nope, over my dead body”.
Of course, this would never happen, because there would be riots on King William St.
But listeners took the bait, flooding the station with angry calls and posting more than 700 comments to Facebook.
“It would be a disgrace if this happens. It is what makes Adelaide Oval special!” Tracie Male wrote.
Way to stir up trouble, Jodie and Soda.
Adelaide Bite signs legendary Yankees shortstop
IT’S tough for baseball to get traction in a country obsessed with cricket, footy, soccer and rugby.
But the Adelaide Bite announced the ultimate recruitment coup — signing retired New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter on a one-year contract as player-manager.
For those unfamiliar with baseball, that would be the equivalent of Adelaide United signing David Beckham.
In a brilliant example of pre-planning, they even got Jeter to pose with an Adelaide Bite jersey.
Unsurprisingly, the Bite’s general manager Nathan Davison said it was “a huge opportunity for the club”.
Appropriate, as April Fool’s Day is increasingly a huge opportunity for small organisations and brands to get major attention.
Pigs as sniffer dogs
PIGS have fantastic noses so it’s no great surprise that they’ll soon be joining the drug-detection ranks of Tasmania Police.
In one of the cutest April Fool’s Day pranks going around, the state force’s Facebook page shared a picture of a piglet kitted out in a helmet and high-vis police coat.
“With pigs commonly believed to be among the smartest of animals, Tasmania Police will be the first in the country to develop a Narcotic Detection Swine Unit,” the post said.
“The pigs have proven their capability in the field of truffle detection and experts suggest that it’s a logical next step.
“Apart from occasionally getting sidetracked by mud puddles, the pigs have performed exceptionally well in training.”
Sounds legit.
Coles hover trolleys
SUPERMARKET trolleys are the worst. They’re way too hard to push around, especially when they’ve got a dodgy wheel.
So when Coles revealed today that they’re introducing new hover trolleys, shoppers across the country were thrilled (if rather sceptical).
A post on the supermarket company’s Facebook and Twitter showed a picture of the floating trolleys, gliding over the vinyl aisles with ease.
But not everyone was sold on the idea.
“Knowing my luck I’d still get a squeaky one that has a mind of its own and just wants to take hard lefts into everything,” Facebook user Vincent Marychurch wrote.
Pity it was a prank. Someone should invent this immediately and make all of our lives better.
Introducing Coles NEW hover trolleys! Gliding into a store near you soon…#hovertrolley pic.twitter.com/eX3NabBcoI
— Coles Supermarkets (@Coles) March 31, 2016
The Bachelor for oldies
GET involved grandmas and grandpas, this could be your ticket to retirement bliss.
The show that brought love, romance and cringe-worthy dates to the lives of many beautiful young couples will now play cupid to a (much) older demographic in The Bachelor: The Senior Years.
Network Ten has put the call out for contestants for the new spin-off series in a bid to capitalise on the success of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.
All right, so the show was dreamed up by Rendezview columnist “Avril Blague”, but the TV station agreed that it wasn’t a bad idea.
“You might just be on to something,” Network Ten said in response.
Australian Open to get timber courts
The Australian Open has announced that the 2017 tennis grand slam event would be played on an innovative new surface.
The tournament posted a prank video on Facebook spruiking the world’s first timber tennis courts.
“We’re on to something,” tournament director Craig Tiley said in the video.
“The feedback we’re getting from the partners is that they’re very pleasantly surprised.
“They like it and they know it’s a great platform for us to grow in the future.”
It’s sure to make life even harder for the poor linespeople.
Battle to save animals on the brink at Outback reserve
Conservationists are battling to save animals at an Outback reserve from the effects of the worst drought in recent memory, and have received a funding boost to redouble their efforts.
Country tradie to face court over incomplete work
A country tradesman will face the Elizabeth Magistrates Court over allegations he was not licenced and refused to refund money to clients.