Ah, the first of April. A day you can sit down with your breakfast, switch on your television and find out about newly discovered islands, dogs that drive cars and all sorts of other weird stuff.

Of course, as everyone laughs at you at work for repeating these ludicrous stories you swear that next year you won’t fall for a single April Fool’s Day joke. If only it were that easy, though. The following are some of the pranks which have fooled and bemused us over the years.

Where Does Spaghetti Come From?

1957 was such an innocent time, wasn’t it? Some hip young cat called Presley was young and fresh and might not even have eaten his first peanut butter coated hamburger yet, the lovably annoying Frisbee was invented and the Brits believed that pasta grew on trees. The respected TV show Panorama produced one of the earliest and finest April Fool’s pranks when they went to Switzerland and showed how spaghetti grows on trees. The public loved it and many people contacted the BBC to ask how they could grow their own spaghetti trees.

The person who first thought of making reality shows should really be ashamed of themselves. As well as inflicting some of the dumbest shows in the history of the world on us they have also caused many scandals, or at least let us enjoy scandals we wouldn’t otherwise have known or cared about.

However, in amongst the fun there have also been some truly shocking moments.

Survivor Thailand Winner Scandal: From Surviving Thailand to Shooting Puppies

Brian Heidik has had an interesting few years, hasn’t he? You would think that winning a million bucks on Survivor: Thailand would have been enough of a claim to game, but not for Brian it wasn’t. He then took the frankly unusual step of shooting a puppy in the head with an arrow. He claimed that he thought it was a coyote and it’s hard to argue with that kind of logic. To top it off, he was reported to police by his wife, who used to be a Playboy model, whom he also allegedly attacked. He used to be a porn star too.

Wikipedia.com/

The Marriage That Never Made It to Our Screens

The idea of a VH1 reality series with newly married NFL star Chad Johnson (Ochocinco) and his new wife Evelyn Lozada sounded quite promising. Then he got arrested. For beating her up. With his head. He got dropped by his team and then they got divorced. The show got dropped before we even got to see any of this, which I suppose makes this a not-quite-reality-show scandal but, hey, let’s not get too picky over our scandals here.

Big Brother Knife Scandal

If you were live on National TV in the Big Brother house you might like to play a little joke. After all, it would help make you appear to be a charming and more likeable person in the eyes of your housemates and the voting public.

Photo Credit: watchwithkristin via Compfight cc

Maybe you could, I don’t know, hold a knife to someone’s throat and ask them if they would still love you if you killed them. Yeah, that ought to do it. The hilarious prank played by Justin Sebik was misunderstood by those bores at CBS and he got kicked out of the house because of it, although to be fair it wasn’t his first bit of controversy in the house. It was then discovered that he had a criminal record and the person whose throat he held the knife to (Krist Stegall) sued CBS.

Big Brother Brazilian Drunken Rape Scandal

Big Brother has also produced scandals in other countries and one of the most sensational ones happened in Brazil. Monique Amin appeared to be sexually attacked by a fellow contestant while she was asleep in a drunken stupor. He got booted off the show and investigated by police while she went on to make a career for herself as a saucy model.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia.com/

Megan Wants a Millionaire Tragic Murder and Suicide Scandal

A genuinely shocking incident caused the new Megan Wants a Millionaire show to get dumped by VH1 after only 3 shows. Megan Hauserman had 17 millionaires trying to win her love but one of them got involved in a terrifying scandal. Ryan Jenkins was the only suspect in the horrifying murder of his swimsuit model wife Jasmine Fiore and the police charged him with the crime. Jenkins then killed himself in a hotel room and the show disappeared from our screens.

Some people assault others with guns, knives, or even their bare hands. But what about using gaseous fumes? Also, add to the mix the fact that it’s a serial gasser!

Welcome to the wonderful world of the “Mad Gasser of Mattoon” or his other names, including:

• Mad Gasser
• Mad Anesthetist
• Anesthetic Prowler
• Mad Gasser of Roanoke

Appearance

Town folk in the areas of Botetourt County, Virginia and Mattoon, Illinois in the early 1930′s and mid-1940′s said that the “Mad Gasser” was a tall, frail man with dark clothing and tight cap. He was said to have been carrying a pesticide tool used for spraying plants. He also wore a gas mask to protect him from the gasses he’d spray at his victims.

Cases

The gasser was said to have struck before the initial cases were reported, but people were too scared to report due to the fact that they may be considered crazy by the people in their town.

Whether you like them or not, you are stuck with your coworkers for multiple hours everyday. Someone’s laugh probably drives you crazy or mannerisms bug the heck out of you. Caught up in your own displeasure you probably didn’t realize you could be equally annoying to someone else. It’s true – if you’re not careful, you could be the one making everyone feel awkward. Here are nine things no one at the office wants to hear you say:

That’s Not My Job

Telling someone that something isn’t your job is just like saying you aren’t willing to help unless you absolutely have to. If someone assumes something is your responsibility and it isn’t, politely guide them to the person responsible. Don’t be a jerk. If someone asks you for help, of course the project he or she mentioned isn’t your job – that’s why they asked for your help.

How Did They Get Promoted?

Umm, rude. Even if it’s truly unbelievable that the Michael Scott of the office got promoted, don’t go spreading your opinion around. It makes you seem unprofessional, judgmental and especially bitter. Instead, bring up concerns (backed by specific examples) when specifically asked by senior management during a performance review.

Don’t Tell Anyone, But…

Steer clear of being an office gossip – the attention and association isn’t genuine. Avoid sharing negative opinions about another employee, specific company information only you are privy to or even that fact that you are considering applying for jobs elsewhere. Over sharing can bite you in the butt sooner than later.

Santa’s watching you…

You have to admit that the marketing for Elf on a Shelf is really quite ingenious. Just in case there are a few stragglers out there who don’t know what the Elf on the Shelf is, here goes.

Basically, it is a contrived (yet incredibly successful) product conceived as an instantaneous Christmas tradition-in-a-box. Elf on a Shelf is a book about a magical elf who watches little children before Christmas to see if they have been ‘Naughty or Nice’. It comes packaged with a toy elf that needs to find a different perch for 24 days leading up to Christmas. The story and the elf are intended for children, but the fun is how completely immersed adults and children become in the daily activities of the elf.

There’s something a little bit creepy about a stuffed toy that sits around the house like Big Brother reporting back to Santa. But it’s amazing what these little fellas will get up to when nobody’s looking…From snowball fights, to joy rides, binge eating and premature present opening, the Elf is just as naughty as some of the kids it watches over.

 

The creators of this phenomenon must be aware of the outlandish situations their elves get into because Elf on a Shelf’s official website has a page called ‘Manage your Elf’. It seems quite clear that the elves out there are living dangerously and getting up to mischief the minute your back is turned.
 

Let’s be honest here. After the first few nights, Elf on a Shelf starts behaving like a house guest who has overstayed his or her welcome. The elf begins to invade your personal space, not to mention taking liberties with your belongings.
It’s no wonder that many elf owners out there have started rising up in protest and taking revenge on the goody-two-shoes little critters as pay back for tattling to Santa.

The huge popularity bestowed on the elves has obviously gone to their heads. You can’t really blame them, what with elf coloring books, elf craft activities and to top it all off, being invited to the Macy’s parade! Some creative elf owners have thought up unique ways to take these little creatures down a peg.

Hmm…after all is said and done, adding Elf in a Shelf to your Holiday traditions could be rather fun after all. Merry Christmas.

Send us your pictures of a naughty Elf on the Shelf. Email marketing@thisblogrules.com with your Elf of the Shelf photo. Select photos will be selected for a follow up post, and addition to our Facebook page.