April Fool’s day can fill many people around the country with dread and doubt over what is real and what isn’t.
Although many of the jokes today have been very obvious, here’s a round-up of the best and worst spoof stories that have caught Scots out throughout 1 April.
Aberdeen FC dreaming up plans for Pittodrieland theme park
Aberdeen fans were left scratching their heads after the Evening Express “revealed” the football team’s plans for a theme park.
Roller coaster monument
In similar theme, Oban based McLaren Plant Hire & Contracting tried to pull the wool over their followers by unveiling a new roller coaster plans for the towns famous McCaig’s Tower.
Posting online, they said: “We are the lead contractor on a rollercoaster installation in the middle of McCaig’s Tower, we think it will be a great addition to the town and we can’t wait to get started .”
North Coast 500 goes all electric
This morning it was exclusively revealed by The Press and Journal that the public will be banned from driving their cars on more than 500 miles of Scottish roads under a controversial new deal to limit visitor numbers to the Highlands and reduce the country’s environmental footprint.
And it’s safe to say that the public had strong reactions online.
“Time hole” at the Callanish Stones
The Western Isles Weather social media channel managed to wind-up its followers with a gag about the famed Callanish standing stones.
Posting on Facebook, they said: ‘Authorities in the Western Isles this morning are currently expanding the exclusion zone around the Callanish stones to 500 meters after a time hole anomaly was discovered on Sunday evening. ‘
Unicorn spotted in Scotland
The National Trust for Scotland shared the “breaking news” that a unicorn had been spotted at Fyvie Castle in Turriff.
However, social users weren’t so easily fooled.
Football madness
Highland band Mànran managed to capitalise on Scotland’s football success last night and fool some fans into thinking they were writing the team’s official anthem.
Brands and celebs
Well-known celebrities and household brands got in on the act, too.
Comedy duo Ant and Dec rebranded themselves ‘Dec and Ant’, with one half of the loveable TV duo, Declan Donnelly, writing on social media: “I’m over the moon. We agreed back in the Byker [Grove] days that he’d [Ant] take the first 30 years and I’d take the rest.”
Popular sandwich chain Subway announced the launch of a new gadget called “helping hand”. The design was simple, a third hand strapped to your wrist so you can hold your foot long sub while scrolling social media.
A Subway spokesperson said: “Our smart-tech is going revolutionise lunchtime. It’s a gamechanger for customers who don’t want to lose out in their midday break. For anyone that finds the idea a bit weird, we’re still happy to just cut their Subs in half.”
Meanwhile, the nation’s favourite soup brand Heinz and smoothie producers Innocent combined two of their most iconic products to create a brand new concoction – smoup.
Smoup is a mixture of Heinz’s cream of tomato soup and Innocent’s strawberry and banana smoothie.