Companies, websites and the media took the opportunity to fool readers on April 1 as politics, technology and fashion were satirised and mocked around the region in this year’s pranks.
Hong Kong Airlines was pleased to announce flights to Cheung Chau on April Fools’ Day, amid recent news of the island’s only ferry being crammed with tourists and residents during the holidays.
HK Magazine focused its attention on lawmakers and officials as it reported that Sheung Wan and Soho have been declared expat-only Zones.
Harbour Times, meanwhile, reported “CY LEUNG ANNOUNCES WILL NOT RUN IN 2017”.
Youngspiration, a youth political party formed after the pro-democracy Occupy movement, announced that it was quitting the political scene and had fired almost 100 party members who did not pay their membership fees.
Keyboard Frontline, an activist group which campaigned against the copyright amendment law, or “Internet Article 23,” has said that it would split into two groups – Keyboard Frontline, and Tablet Frontline.
Popular satire media company 100Most also said that it would split their magazine into 20 booklets and rename themselves 5Most, which is 50 cents, or “wumao” – a person who roams the internet posting favourable comments for the government, allegedly for money.
Further afield, The Guardian’s royal correspondent reported that the royal family would intervene were Britain to exit the European Union.
Clothing giant H&M said it teamed up with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to release a clothing line that consists of Zuckerberg’s standard wardrobe: hoodie, grey shirt, and jeans.
In other Zuckerberg-related news closer to home, the Beijinger suggested he had plans to move to Beijing.
Among the many pranks Google rolled out this year, it introduced its plastic cardboard – a piece of transparent plastic which “lets you see things the way you truly see them”.
The internet giant also introduced a “Mic Drop” function in its Gmail service, which unfortunately has been axed already amid claims that some users lost their jobs.
Any we missed? Pop them in the comments below!
