Greetings folk get in on the April Fool’s Day fun – were you caught out?
Inappropriate occasions cards, Royal Mail paint, giant plush and cars that run on greeting card waste – the industry has been having fun for April Fool’s Day.
And as it’s now gone noon, PG Buzz isn’t spoiling the fabulous jokes by revealing these wizard wheezes, with Objectables topping the list as co-owner Tim Gould and staff member Joy pranked his partner Annie who was serving in the Folkestone store today.
Trying to keep a straight face Tim told PG Buzz: “We’ve always tried as a publisher and a shop to be as inclusive as we can and give our customers a card for every occasion, but I’ve been feeling for a while now we have been inadvertently discriminating against people just because they’ve behaved pretty awfully.
“Why shouldn’t they be able to send a card too just because the reason they’re sending the card is deplorable?! These first cards we launched today are mostly based on situations I’ve been in but have been unable to find suitable cards for – but we’re already researching what other unacceptable situations we can monetise.”
He came up with seven designs, and printed a batch of six of each which were put on sale in the shop where Annie knew nothing about it so had to deal with customers’ comments!
“They looked as though they’re on sale, but were given free to any customer who actually tried to buy one,” Tim laughed, “I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that some people might believe these are cards we’d actually publish!”
Meanwhile Aga Marsden and the team at Highworth Emporium unveiled the store’s “advanced self-checkout system” on social media, explaining the system would mean no more waiting in line, “just scan, bag and go”.
And the system’s “special features” would see it asking “that’s a great gift choice or are you keeping it for yourself’?”, “Oops! That’s the third time you’ve swiped your card. Should we call for backup?” and “Are you sure you don’t need just one more gift?”
Royal Mail joined in the fun with the reveal of the historic company’s first interior paint range, with colours including Postbox Red, Airmail, Parcel, Pave The Way, Rural Round and Penny Black by designer Helena Hebda-Olsen, who apparently “accompanied veteran postman Bill Davies on his rounds in Leeds to experience the challenges of the job first-hand and learn all about the art of delivering the nation’s mail”.
The full joke can be seen in the video below, and the social media post was made even more authentic with a link to a full press release on parent company International Distribution Services’ website – although the dateline of 31 March did make a few wonder!
With The Eco-friendly Card Company’s much-admired commitment to sustainability, a Facebook post about decreasing its environmental footprint needed a second glance as co-owner Sue Morrish made it sound so believable, announcing it would be the first business in the world to run a car on used greeting card waste, and would start collecting cards for fuel-recycling from its network of indie retailer stockists across the south-west from mid-April.
Sue explained it was a unique take on recycling, with old cards shredded and the cellulose converted into a high-quality fuel with no emissions as the shredded cards are put through the specially-adapted fuel cap to allow the unique eco-friendly energy-creating process to take place.
And she was quoted as saying: “We’re thrilled to be pioneering this wonderful technology despite a few interesting quirks. Even though it’s emission-free we’ve noticed that, when we fill the car with flower card designs the car releases a distinctive floral odour!
“We’ve also noticed the sound of the car has changed and it now produces a distinctive musical tinkling as it drives along, that sounds a little like Happy Birthday To You.”
Meanwhile Jarrolds’ CEO Nick Steven-Jones got personally involved in the tomfoolery with the reel below where he announced the Norwich department store’s latest rebrand to Jarroldz.
Wrendale Designs also played with people as the company which had a giant plush beaver on the stand at Spring Fair posted: “We are so excited to announce that our plush range is getting even bigger! Introducing the wonderful mega plush. We’ll only be creating a select few characters from the range, who would you like to see?”
While getting the joke, a number of customers also commented that the giant rabbits and cuddlies were definitely something they hope would actually be produced.
Pilot Pen also scribed its way into the April Fool’s Day fun by introducing the G2 AI pen: “Why write when AI can do it for you? We’ve made life even easier – hands-free writing is here! What can’t a G2 do?!”
