Yes, you read that correctly. No, I haven’t miscalculated. In a world where most people are stuck at home, toilet paper shortages run rampant, and political leaders reassure us that the best way to stay safe is to wash our hands while singing happy birthday twice, life already seems like a big joke.
It doesn’t seem like the time to celebrate April Fool’s day, and many have suggested it should be “cancelled”, replaced instead by March 32nd.
Although it might seem like an innocent day of fun, some deem it insensitive to pull pranks amidst the already high-strung nerves and anxieties about the ongoing pandemic. Google has already cancelled their yearly April Fool’s plans; “Our highest goal right now is to be helpful to people, so let’s save the jokes for next April”, stated the head of marketing. But this isn’t the first time April Fool’s has been a controversial topic.
On April 1st, 1957 the BBC showed the “Spaghetti-tree hoax”, a three-minute broadcast showing a family in southern Switzerland harvesting spaghetti from the family’s “spaghetti tree”. This might seem an obvious prank but, as one of the first times the medium of television was used to deliver such a hoax, it gained a mixed reception from critics as to whether it was appropriate. It started a discourse about where to draw the line between an entertaining joke and an inappropriate ruse, particularly in reports aired by a trusted news broadcasting company.
The date has also caused issues with the delivery of true news, a notable example being on April 1st, 1946 when many people believed the warnings about the Aleutian Island earthquake tsunami, that killed 165 people in Hawaii and Alaska, were a hoax.
Now more than ever, with the availability of the internet, the ability to distinguish between real and fake news is increasingly difficult. In these uncertain and distressing times, it is of vital importance to have access to facts and reliable information.
So, while it might sound like a good idea to spread a bit of joy with a few silly jokes, be mindful of the current situation. In other words, don’t be the April fool.
