Today is the internet’s least trustworthy day, and I’m going to try and be here for you, TMS-ers. I’ll update this list periodically throughout the day as various pranks and their debunkings come to my attention.
Let’s get through this together. (Last update: 6:15pM EST)
Debunked Pranks So Far
- Alas, so far as we know, there won’t be a female doctor yet. Ann Widdecombe has not been cast as the Doctor. Den of Geek posted this prank.
- The Daily Telegraph reported that polar bears had been spotted in Scotland due to melting Arctic ice. This was an April Fools’ story.
- Paul Feig tweeted that he will reboot Back to the Future with an all-female cast. Everyone is now really sad, having briefly pictured Kate McKinnon as Doc Brown.
- Pink News reported that Simba would be gay in Disney’s upcoming ‘live-action’Â The Lion King. Given that their article doesn’t name the already-announced director Jon Favreau, cites real-life lions as part of the filming process, and claims the film will be released on June 31, 2018 (a date which does not exist) when no release date has been set, this one’s pretty clearly a prank.
- “The Doctor To Degenerate Into David Tennant,” from Doctor Who TV. The article’s tone and silly quotes make it pretty clear that this one’s an April Fool’s joke, but if you only read the headline, you might’ve been fooled.
- George Takei is Running for Congress, from the Daily Buzz. Earlier, Takei posted a link to the article on Twitter and wrote that “the cat’s out of the bag,” and he’s officially running for Congress. Even Mark Ruffalo looks like he fell for it.
However, Takei later tweeted that he is not, in fact, running, and used the prank to promote Jon Ossoff’s campaign in Georgia. Ossoff is a Democrat running to take the seat formerly held by Republican Tom Price, who was selected as Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services. (via The Hill and People)No, I’m not running for Congress. Happy 4/1!
But Jon Ossoff is on 4/18. Help him win at https://t.co/ctCcRiYcdL. Let’s flip Congress in ’18 pic.twitter.com/41uj6l3yt7
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) April 1, 2017
- Basically every item on the ThinkGeek homepage–from a Hot Pocket sleeping bag to the Bicycle Horn of Gondor–is an April Fools’ fake today. The product descriptions make for a good laugh.
- No, Daft Punk is not going back on tour. (Look at the concert locations.)
Possible Pranks
- TBA
Look, These Are Just Fun
- The Denny’s Twitter feed is having NONE of this holiday, with gems like the below:
we’re out of ketchup april fools
— Denny’s (@DennysDiner) April 1, 2017
our name is donny’s april fools
— Denny’s (@DennysDiner) April 1, 2017
- CERN and NASA jokingly announced that they found the “the largest particle accelerator ever built” on Mars. “Olympus Mons, previously thought to be the largest volcanic formation in the solar system, is in fact the remains of an ancient particle accelerator.”
- The Smithsonian National Zoo claims they found the first unicorn in the wild.
- Google put out one of their annual fake product launches and introduced the Google Gnome, a fake “smart yard” product that riffs on “smart home” devices.
- Amazon produced a fake ad for Petlexa, an Alexa/Amazon Echo for pets.
- Virgin Atlantic put out an April Fools’ video about their new Dreambird 1417, a fake plane that flaps its wings just like a bird in flight.
- The London Underground posted a jokey sign about ghost sightings on the trains.
Travelling in London on the Underground just got so much better!
Couldn’t help but tweet! #AprilFools #aprilfoolsday pic.twitter.com/fjCwIgWfRw
— Renzo Soprano (@Renzo_Soprano) April 1, 2017
(Featured image via New Line Cinema)
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