The only person laughing is usually the person who made the joke and it’s generally just irritating to everyone else who just wants to get on with their day. I might feel differently if we like, got the day off work for April Fools Day I guess
It’s absolutely gotten way worse the past 15 years or so.
As someone who works for a newspaper: the days leading up to and directly following april 1st tend to be very frustrating because of this.
Usually starting on the 30th, we get the first ‘funny’ press releases, with most showing up on the 31st. Which means you have to be extra careful not to use something that SEEMS plausible enough not to warrant extra suspicion on days other than april 1st.
As journalists, we’re perhaps more aware than most regarding potential pranks. We’re always taught to question sources. Which makes it all the more annoying that so many companies and organisations try to pull one over on us. Making reliable, accurate news is difficult enough as it is without all these fuckers trying to poison the well.
Basically, companies and organisations who do it usually get their press releases trashed for a month afterwards on principle. Waste my time? Welcome to the trash bin.
