Worst April Fools' Day pranks that backfired spectacularly - including UFO scare
Love it or loathe it, April Fools' Day is an occasion like no other.
All across the world pranksters unite in their mission to pull the wool over the eyes of their nearest and dearest. Even companies like Google and ITV love to join in with the fun.
But not every well-meaning prank turns out like the trickster intends - and some go horribly wrong.
From a UFO scare that alarmed the army to terribly inappropriate emails, there are lots of jokes that got out of hand over the years.
Luckily, we can look back and enjoy them now. Here are six of the best worst fails - and the reasons they backfired so spectacularly.
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Out of this world
Richard Branson loves April Fools' Day jokes (Philip Ide/ANL/REX/Shutterstock)
And he goes above and beyond (Philip Ide/ANL/REX/Shutterstock)Richard Branson has a reputation as a prankster. But the maverick billionaire should have said no to a UFO scheme he once cooked up.
Back in 1989, he was almost arrested after attempting to fly a spacecraft-shaped hot air balloon over London.
Understandably, people were panicked: traffic ground to a halt, three police forces were mobilised and the army was alerted.
The pranksters didn't make the situation any better for themselves either. Recalling what happened in his blog, Branson wrote: "The police surrounded us and then sent one lone policeman with his truncheon across the field to greet the alien.
"The UFO's door opened very slowly, with plenty of dry ice billowing from it. ET (ok, somebody in an ET costume!) walked down the platform towards the policeman. He quickly spun around and sprinted off back where he had come from!
"To begin with, the police didn't see the funny side of it and threatened to arrest us for wasting their time. Thankfully, they soon joined in the fun and left with smiles on their faces."
You crack me up
Hundreds of people rushed to Beachy Head (Getty Images/iStockphoto)In 2001, a Brighton radio DJ pranked listeners by telling them a replica of the Titanic could be seen off the coast of Beachy Head – Britain's highest chalk sea cliffs.
Unfortunately, the host was a little too convincing as hundreds of people rushed to the viewing point in Eastbourne, East Sussex, keen to get a glimpse.
As they soon realised, it had all been a joke, but the consequences were no laughing matter.
Coastguards found a five-foot crack in the cliff, likely due to the weight of the crowds, and police had to urge the public to stay away.
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A few days later, part of the site collapsed into the sea, and the radio station issued an apology.
Be careful what you wish for
When Hayleigh Mcbay dumped her boyfriend for a festive prank, the last thing she expected was for him to be relieved.
Unfortunately, her joke quickly backfired as it turned out her partner agreed with her prank text.
"I don't want to be with you anymore. I am not happy," she wrote, expecting a very different response from the one she received. But to her dismay, her boyfriend replied: "Thank God you said it first so I didn't have to."
Luckily, her partner was joking, as he'd figured out her plan and wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine. Here's hoping the trickster learned her lesson.
A despicable joke
Google probably should have completed a few more searches before it introduced a 'Mic Drop' feature for April Fools' Day in 2016.
What was intended to be a fun feature - which let users send GIFs of a 'Despicable Me' minion before ending conversations - quickly went wrong when users accidentally pressed the icon, located near the send button.
It was feared the minion might accidentally be sent at inappropriate times, like during exchanges about job interviews or bereavement leave.
Google issued an apology and removed the feature.
You're fired
Piers Morgan claimed he's launching The Assistant (ITV)Cast your mind back to 2019, when Piers Morgan was still the co-lead presenter of ITV's Good Morning Britain, and you might remember what was dubbed the worst April Fools' joke ever.
During the breakfast show, it was announced the presenter was launching a new ITV series, The Assistant, to rival BBC series The Apprentice.
Unfortunately for Piers, nobody seemed to care. Suspicious viewers quickly pointed out the announcement was made on April 1 and slammed the 'lame' skit.
Whether or not the show would have received any applications remains to be seen.
Why so blue?
Lastly, one group of friends might have the funniest fail on record after they accidentally turned their pal bright blue right before she had to defend her university thesis.
Unfortunately, nobody realised their mistake until it was too late and the scholar had to sit through her all-important interview with a blue face.
One of the guilty party, Christian, shared the story with the Mirror. Based in Peru, the academic explained the prank worked so well because his friend and flatmate used blue-tinted sun cream.
So when her friends discovered a blue dye during a trip to the Amazon, they could not resist and mixed the pigment into her skincare. But their friend went away for a week and they soon forgot about their mischievous act.
Fast forward to her return, it was only when they heard a scream in the shower and she emerged with a blue face that they realised their error.
Luckily, the story has a happy ending, even though the student's interview ended up being one for the history books.
"In the end, she had to do the whole interview with her face completely blue hahahaha. She was ultra p**** off with us (we admitted to our sins) but ultimately made it up for her by taking her out on an expensive meal and promising to put the blue suncream on the week after, which we did," Christian wrote.
He added: "At the end, having a blue face made everyone laugh at the grilling, and she did really well because that removed the tension a little bit."
As the prank occurred before the age of smartphones, Christian didn't have any photos to share, but it sounds like he's got a memory that will last a lifetime.
Do you have an epic fail to share? Let us know in the comments below or email [email protected]
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