Man-made sewer monsters and the discovery of alien life are some of the ways jokers have attempted to pull the wool over Mancunians eyes on April Fools' Day.
Yes it's the most mischievous day of the year - when our gullibility is tested by pranksters hoping to catch us with an "April Fools!" before 12pm. The exact origins of why we play practical jokes and invent hoaxes on April 1st are unknown.
But, for over 200-years, April Fools' Day has signalled hours of mischief-making which causes reactions varying from chuckles to panic. Some, of course, we see coming a mile off, but others have enraged people so much those behind the pranks have been forced to apologise.
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But it's not just friends and family looking to catch us out, it's become a tradition for newspapers and broadcasters to revel in reporting implausibly silly stories on April Fools' Day. Some of the classic japes the media have played include the BBC convincing people that southern Switzerland had a bumper spaghetti harvest and that a colony of penguins had been discovered that could fly.
Perhaps one of the most extreme examples was the Paris radio station that announced all of Europe would follow Britain and drive on the left from April 1. Cue chaos on the roads when those who had not heard the broadcast desperately tried to avoid those that had.
So, if you have yet to be caught out today, well done to you. To celebrate this most larksome of days, we've put together a list of six occasions when companies, members of the public, and even the M.E.N have tried to pull the wool over the eyes of Mancunians in years past.
Sewer monster
In 2011, United Utilities harnessed the power of April Fools' Day to warn people about the perils of flushing inappropriate items down the toilet. The Warrington-based group was behind an advertising campaign revealing details of "The Man-Made Sewer Monster".
Unleashed on April Fools' Day, the "monster" appeared on grainy CCTV footage shot in real sewers and was part of the company's What Not To Flush marketing campaign. The campaign had the tagline: “What you flush could come back to haunt you.”
Rose Francis, United Utilities campaign manager, said: "The real monsters lurking in the sewers are the baby wipes, cotton buds, and nappies which clog pipes and cause flooding. It’s a big issue, as the resulting flooding can cause real distress for households, and pollute local watercourses.
"By using a bin in the bathroom instead of flushing waste, many of these flooding incidents can be avoided. What Not To Flush is designed to highlight the issue in an attention-grabbing and fun way."
Inflatable slide on Manchester city centre rooftop
On April Fools' Day in 2016, the MEN pulled its own dastardly prank when it published a story on an inflatable slide being installed on a rooftop of the National Football Museum in Manchester city centre. Thrill-seekers were asked to step up and take the plunge down the six-storey sloping glass building - formerly Urbis - before landing on a giant crash pad in Exchange Square.
We reported anyone going on the slide would have to sign a waiver 'in the case of an accident', declaring that 'any damage to me or my body, including death and worse, is not the responsibility of the organisers or anyone else'.
The MEN quoted a spokesperson for the far-fetched venture, La Proofi, saying: "We heard Manchester is obsessed with giant things. Giant slides, giant swings, giant rabbits, giant spiders. So now they can live it large right here in the city centre. It's going to be massive."
Of course the observant reader would have already tagged that spokesperson La Proofi was in fact an anagram of April Fool.
Gravy bar opening
In 2017, an exciting new restaurant venture was announced in the form of a gravy bar, which was eventually revealed to have been an elaborate hoax. Billing itself as 'deluxe cuisinery [paying] homage to the finest part of the Sunday roast', the stunt first attracted attention with a tweet on March 9, followed by the launch of a website giving little away.
A menu was later revealed, featuring sherry cask-aged gravy topped with hundreds and thousands, along with a gravy subscription service. Hmm.
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However, on April Fools' Day it was all revealed to have been the work of unnamed pranksters who had concocted the well-executed, if unforgiveable, jest. A solid effort from everyone involved, but they should have just opened it anyway.
Manchester Cathedral to be turned into flats
Oh boy, this didn't go down well. In 2015, an estate agent was forced to apologise after telling people Manchester Cathedral was due to be turned into flats for an April Fools joke.
Over 100 worried people called the Cathedral after seeing Tiger Property Partners' posts on Twitter and Facebook that the historic building was up for sale. Messages posted on the Didsbury property company's social media pages said: "Manchester Cathedral is to be converted into 15 luxury apartments. Tiger Property is now taking deposits."
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The posts sparked panic among worshippers, who contacted the Cathedral asking why the building was to be sold. The posts were reportedly made by a freelance PR consultant paid by Tiger Property Partners to run social media accounts, with staff unaware of the prank.
However, the company apologised for any distress the post caused - but said other people had also rung the office asking how much the deposit for the new flats would be.
Alien life discovered
In another April Fools jape in 2016, the MEN ran a story that Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire had finally made the breakthrough when it discovered we are not alone in the universe. The observatory was said to have released a transmission picked up by the Lovell Telescope that proved beyond doubt alien life among the stars.
It quoted Tim O’Brien, professor of astrophysics at Jodrell Bank, exclaiming: "In the last 20 years or so, more than a thousand planets have been found orbiting other stars like the sun.
"But this new planet is very strange. It is small compared to most, much smaller than the Earth, and strangely blue.
"For thousands of years, humans have looked to the skies and wondered whether life might exist on another planet in some far-flung region of the Galaxy. Well, now we know the answer: and it looks like we’ll be friends!"
But of course, it was just a load of old nonsense concocted for April Fools' Day.
Home Bargains name change
In 2021, retail giant Home Bargains found itself in trouble with some shoppers, after it attempted to dupe them with an April Fools joke. The budget supermarket shared a post on Facebook, suggesting that it would be returning to its old branding of 'Home and Bargain'.
The retailer wrote: "Yes, Home and Bargain is coming back! What do you think of our new logo?" The post quickly racked up thousands of comments, with many people keen to see the nostalgic logo return.
However, later that day, Home Bargains revealed that the whole thing was, in fact, a prank - leaving some shoppers disappointed. While many people admitted it had given them a good laugh, others seemed a little upset that the retro name won't be returning.
"The old logo actually looks better. Retro rebrand could work..." said one. Another wrote: "The old logo is so much better. The newer one makes them look cheap."
Does April Fools' Day awaken any memories for you? Let us know in the comments section below.
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