Fooled by the media

Contemporary Review, April, 1999 by Geoffrey Humphrys

Similarly, hundreds rang in to inquire where and how to stake claims after a Southern TV programme announced the discovery of gold in a river near Southampton.

Last year the insurers Sun Life of Canada played an April Fools' Day trick on 734 annuity holders by overpaying them on their monthly pensions. Due to a computer system fault, pensioners who ought to have received an average [pounds]360 per month were paid [pounds]1,160 - almost three times as much. A letter was sent on April 2, asking for the excess to be refunded. Most repaid the money promptly; they were rewarded with flowers and gift vouchers.

What will April the First, 1999, bring? It is almost certain that someone somewhere in Britain will have set up some prank to turn a few, or perhaps millions of faces red when they realise that they have been 'caught'. It is this spirit, today personified by Jeremy Beadle of TV 'Beadle's About' fame, which apart from children, keeps April fooling customs alive.

Geoffrey Humphrys is a freelance journalist and author based in Norfolk.