April Fool’s Day (a)

In a perfect world, we wouldn’t feel the need to do April Fool’s Day.

Now, don’t get me wrong – I’m all for a clever and well thought out prank.  My wife and I are still awaiting payback for tricking my sister and brother-in-law that we were giving their 11 month old son a puppy for his first Christmas.*

*Spoiler:  It was a stuffed animal placed in our dog’s kennel that we had kept in the garage.  

The problem is, if the tank of original April Fool’s Day ideas is not empty, the little yellow light on the dashboard has been on for several years.  Most of the stuff you see on April 1 falls into one of five categories:

• Something that has been done before.
• Something that is so ridiculously over the top, very few people believe it.
• Something that tries so hard to be believable that it barely makes a ripple.
• Something that crosses a line – good taste, gets people hurt, unnecessarily angers a lot of people.
• Something that is truly original and memorable.

Seriously, what is that last April Fool’s Day joke/prank/gag/spoof where you said:  “this is a brilliant idea, executed to perfection”?  You probably have to go back a few years, if you can even remember anything.  Most are so painfully stupid you wonder if the joke is their attempt to fail at April Fool’s Day.

It’s okay to admit that the April Fool concept has jumped the shark, and decide to move on to bigger and better things.

 

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(Author’s note:  Wondering why there is a random letter in parentheses in the title of this post?  Not sure how this post corresponds to the daily letter in the April A to Z Challenge?  Like clicking on links?  These questions are all answered here.)

Smells Like (Teen)Aged Spirits

So…I saw this tonight in my Twitter feed:

What do you love the smell of? We love the smell of bourbon. Now it's a cologne. pic.twitter.com/AdP990uLKE

— Jim Beam (@JimBeam) April 1, 2015

Huh.

As my buddy Denny said “now you can smell like an alcoholic without the cost or time involved to actually become one”!

While I do find bourbon to be a pleasant aroma, I’m probably not going to look for it in a Yankee Hill candle, much less a cologne.  But this product does raise some practical questions:

• What proof is the Jim Beam Cologne?

 

• Is it just a mini-bar bottle with a spray mister on top?

 

• Does one have to be 21 to buy it?

 

• Is it a plausible excuse if I get pulled over on suspicion of DUI?

 

• Will my wife have to start wearing a Coca-Cola perfume?

 

• How early is too early to roll out your April Fool’s Day gag?

 

Yep, they got me.  Which brings us to a close with another piece of sage Twitter advice:

If you are gullible (or just plain stupid), you may want to stay off Twitter for the next 24 hours.

At a minimum, disable your RT button

— Dave Feit (@FeitCanWrite) April 1, 2015