April FAVORS Day

Is April Fools day canceled because of COVID-19? A lot of people are in support of cancelling April Fools Day because, frankly, this whole year is a joke and the punchline is reality itself! With an abundance of worry and uncertainty, there’s little room for humor. To be fair...

 We’re not correcting anyone saying, ‘ain't shit funny!’ anytime soon. So, should you hold off on your masterful prank that you’ve been planning since before coronavirus? 

If your prank is to dupe someone into believing that they somehow committed tax fraud, or that their car window has been smashed, yeah, you probs shouldn’t pull it!  If you’re a luxury brand mockingly introducing a new unaffordable item, maybe think twice! When things are back to normal and we’re not all trying to dawn happy faces just to make it through another day of quarantine- let it rip!  For now, we’re taking a different approach altogether. But first, let's take a look at the history of April Fools Day. Oh, you already know? Could have fooled me...

The origins of April Fools Day are unknown. No Joke, no kidding around, not a hoax.  So how did April Fools Day trick its way into existence? Here’s three widely debated theories:

The Gregorian Calendar Theory 

The Council of Trent dictated that France would switch to the Gregorian calendar from the Julian calendar in 1582.  The Julian calendar celebrates the new year around the spring equinox, April 1st (ish), while of course the Gregorian calendar celebrates it January 1st. Those that didn’t get the memo were dubbed fools and often had a paper fish tapped to their back to indicate what an idiot they were. 

The Vernal Equinox Theory 

Vernal is just a fancy word for spring. This theory states that April fools day was brought about because springtime weather just can’t make up its damn mind! Between March and May, a 70 degree day requires a jacket, you fool! 

The St. Patricks Theory 

St. Patrick died on 3/17/1631. As a country mourned, many people got drunk. Really drunk. For a really long time! As in drank for two weeks straight without sobering up. These fine specimens of positive coping skills became known as April’s fools. In a drunken stupor, the April Fools were easily manipulated and made the butt of all the towns jokes. 

Regardless of where the tradition started, it caught on. People have been pranking loved ones for hundreds of years! Social proof that it is funny to see people freak out? Probably. A good prank creates a bond between the prankster and the audience as they both revel in the subject's shooketh reaction. This bond is so strong that corporations have taken notice. Over the years some of your favorite brands have pulled unbelievable stunts that surly made you L.O.L. Let’s take a look at a few:

BMW 

This luxurious car brand was in on the branded April Fools jokes before they were cool! In 1983 they launched this wonderful ad for a… waterproof car? 

The Franklin Institute 

You think BMW was early to the party? Wait till you read this! The Franklin Institute, you know Philadelphia's famed museum, launched a press release on 3/31/1940 stating that the world would end at 3pm the next day! No one expected this type of tom-foolery from such an esteemed organization and once the story was picked up by a few radio stations, people all across America freaked out and panicked. Just imagine the vintage hoarding that went down! Turns out the press release was their way of advertising for a new planetarium! 

Hooters   

Here’s a 2015 statement from Hooters marketing director, ““When the opportunity to expand the beloved Hooters concept came about, we jumped at the chance of answering the call from men and women across America. With such an overwhelming interest, I can’t believe we didn’t capitalize on the demand sooner; but now the people have spoken and we have responded: Roosters Boys are here to stay!”This was in response to a new concept that Hooters rolled out dubbed ‘Roosters’. Too bad the bulge was just an April Fools Joke!

Paypal

In 2018 Paypal tweeted out an ad that you can now print money direct from your phone with a simple app upgrade. Hilarious. Though it doesn’t really work. 

If you want a good laugh, just google your favorite brands best April fools jokes! An honorable mention is Taco Bell who announced in 96’ that they bought the Liberty Bell and renamed it the ‘Liberty Taco Bell’. Yes, there’s plenty of dumb people who actually fell for the shenanigans. Hence why humans have such a mysterious history of pulling pranks.  However, this year, give us simpletons a break! Instead of pulling a fast one, how about we all do something nice for each other? Cuz let’s be real, pranking a friend who just lost their job and is on the brink of financial insecurity due to COVID-19 is just some heartless douchebaggery. Last year it was funny, this year we all need a hug… Goddamn social distancing! 

This doesn’t mean we’re against the prank or above the prank. And hopefully, we’ll never have to skip April Fools Day again! But, this year, let’s be nicer than last year. This is how Paul looked after our PRANK last year:

This is how Paul will look after our FAVOR this year!

That’s right. This year we urge everyone to ditch the prank for a favor! Instead of fooling Paul, we’re doing him a solid. Sandwiches wrapped in cellophane over seran wrapped toilet seats. A free ride instead of freak outs. A dollar without the poo! Given the current climate, we’re certain that random acts of kindness will be much more appreciated than a cruel prank meant to get the dupee blood boiling mad! The best part, it’s April 1st, and it’s all in the delivery baby. What we mean here; it’s going to take some serious convincing to get your roommate to actually eat that delicious sandwich you made for them. 

Here’s a list of 30 unbelievable April FAVORS Day ideas that are sure to spread just that normal amount of joy!

1. Skype your grandma and tell her how much you love her! You probably haven’t called her in years so she’ll definitely think there’s a prank involved. Nope! Just some good old fashioned lovin’ on grandma!
2. Make your roommate a sandwich. Unreal, cuz you’ve never done that before.
3. Leave a fresh roll of toilet paper at your neighbors front door. No poo, just paper.
4. Send an inspirational gif link to your friends that is quite rewarding when opened. They’ll definitely think it’s a trap 
5. Send a gift to a medical professional. Make this one really count!
6. Leave your significant others car smelling like pine trees instead of dead fish.
7. Give the remote to your roommate and tell them they get control for the rest of the day. They’ll absolutely think you’re up to something!
8. Support your favorite small biz with a massive order. They won’t take you seriously until your payment processes. Once it does they will hang a plaque of you to honor your contribution during this tough time.
9. Finish your co-workers assignment and let them take credit for it. Reverse plagiarism at its finest!
10. Pour out an entire 40 for the socially distanced homies. It’s the thought that counts. 
11. Call delivery for an extra large pizza pie to a friend's house with all their favorite toppings! Here’s the kicker, stick yourself with the bill.
12. Tell your roommate that the dog pooped on the floor! Then, when they begrudgingly hit pause on Tiger King to come clean up the mess, they will find their favorite candy bar instead.
13. Ice your significant other except replace the Smirnoff Ice with their favorite craft beer! We call this one a chugging favor. Yeah it used to be a prank, but under extreme boredom we’re pretty certain your SO will praise you for it!
14. Call Grandpa and ask him if his refrigerator is running, and if his oven is running, and if all his other electronics and appliances are running and offer to help if any are not. Via Skype of course, keep Gpa healthy! 
15. Buy some merch from your friends band and rock it during their next couch tour. Aggressively blast their couch tour out on your social media channels to help get them streams up. 
16. If you’re good at baking, make a cake for someone that looks like an inedible object. Tell them that it tastes really good. They will be in for a tasty surprise. 
17. Hide random photos of you and your significant other around the house in places they will eventually find them.  Love is in the air!
18. Ask a friend if they want to play 52 pickup and then proceed to drop 52 dollar bills on the floor. Woah, wasn't expecting that!
19. Offer your mother a can of mixed nuts or peanut brittle. She will think there is a snake in there but will be in for a delicious surprise. 
20. Send some friends an email with an ominous digital gift card. Send them a text first giving them a heads up. They will of course think its a virus or computer hack, so after a few hours just tell them what it actually is? 
21. Make dinner for someone you love. And then. AND THEN! Do the dishes too! If you’re like us, they’ll be all, ‘what are you up to?’!
22. Locate your roommates secret stash that you’ve been dipping into for months. Double it!
23. Wait for your housemate(s) to wake up and enter the room you are in. Once they do laugh hysterically as if they just walked into a trap. When they ask why you’re laughing, just say, ‘oh nothing’. They’ll be left pondering all day. No harm, no foul!
24. Pull the classic Porky’s prank. Get one hard boiled egg and one raw egg. Wait for your SO to come into the room and smash the raw egg over your own head while simultaneously tossing them the hard boiled egg. They will freak out at the prospect of being covered in yolk like you yourself now are, but will quickly realize that you’re the idiot that just pranked yourself instead of them. The favor of laughter!
25. If you can afford it, send a $100 check to a close friend who just lost their job. Do it anonymously with a note that says, ‘Your community cares about you!’. 
26. Get a bunch of $1 bills and place them, one at a time, on the sidewalk. As unsuspecting people walk down the sidewalk with their dogs, shout out, ‘watch out for that poop!’. Then assure them that there is no poop on that dollar and it’s theirs to keep. The reverse poo dollar!
27. Wake up in the middle of the night and rearrange all the furniture into a super sweet obstacle course! Fun for the whole family!
28. Put all the furniture from suggestion #27 back in place without asking for any help. You’re crushing quarantine, bub!
29. Share some actually true BIG NEWS with your friends.  Of course they won’t believe you and will be splendid when they see that news come to fruition in the near future! Really sell them on that news, too!
30. Pay it forward. All day! Especially if you’re not used to doing others favors. That will make it that much more unbelievable! 

 So there you have it folks! We at B Fresh Gear are trading April FOOLS Day for April FAVORS Day! Random acts of kindness, shrouded in humor and laughter, to show unity and love instead of singling out morons. This year, the FAVORS on you! Fingers crossed that we can get back to our crass, carefully planned and elaborate hoaxes in 2021! Everyone loves having a good laugh at the gullible dumb-dumb’s expense.  Let’s just remember that for one reason or another, we are all that gullible dumb-dumb from time to time. With all the hardships that we are currently facing, a prank (no matter how crafty), might just send us from gullible dumb-dumb to full-rage-mode-maniac real quick! FAVORS over FOOLS! Are you on board? Please comment with a heart if you’re on board and share the news that this year we will celebrate April FAVORS Day! Yet and still, DO NOT LOSE YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR! Put your pranking skills to use and come up with a hilarious FAVOR that your mark will never forget! 

On a day when everyone’s guards are up, catch your friends and your family with their guards down and note how pleasantly surprised they are that they’re not eating a turd biscuit.