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Royal Mail wins worst April Fools' joke 2023

24 points by gjvc 4y ago

tailspin2019 4y ago
This was a bad joke by a single local delivery office manager, not actually an official “Royal Mail” activity.
unsupp0rted 4y ago
I have yet to see a good April Fools joke by a company. The whole concept is tricking somebody into feeling foolish. That part is easy. Doing it in a way that doesn’t irritate your customer or employee is hard. Why bother? Just do on April 1 the same job you do on April 2, and leave the pranks to individuals in their personal lives, not companies.
- comprev 4y ago
  The cycling industry often goes to great lengths for creating April Fools prank products because it's a marketing opportunity if executed well. https://www.pinkbike.com/news/round-up-april-fools-jokes-from-around-the-cycling-industry.html https://www.pinkbike.com/news/round-up-april-fools-jokes-fro...
- vector_rotcev 4y ago
  Games Workshop did a pretty good one this year - which I enjoyed and think you might enjoy because what's funny is the absurdity of it, not that it makes a fool of anyone: https://youtu.be/uWgKkN4c1QI https://youtu.be/uWgKkN4c1QI
- pdpi 4y ago
  Many game studios release fake patch notes for April Fools. The IETF has such wonderful proposals as RFC 1149 (IP over avian carriers) and RFC 2324 (Hypertext Coffee Pot Control Protocol). These things are harmless and funny and make the world shine a little brighter.
- CM30 4y ago
  Sega released a whole visual novel where the player has to solve the mystery of Sonic's apparent murder. That was well received online, and got a ton of high review scores: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Murder_of_Sonic_the_Hedgehog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Murder_of_Sonic_the_Hedgeh... And Minecraft usually releases joke updates on that day, which have been at least somewhat well received: https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Category:April_Fools%27 https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Category:April_Fools%27 Maybe it works better when a company releases a ludicrous product as a joke, and that said product is actually available for the customers to use.
Aeolun 4y ago
But where is the poster?! I'm mildly annoyed that I just have to take their word for what it said. I'm not sure why people would be pissed about it either. It's not like that delivery office manager is high management, it's just one step above the delivery personnel.
- Veen 4y ago
  The union is using it to embarrass the management and drum up support for the workers. That’s part of their job. It’s in their interest to play up the insensitivity and impact of what was a stupid joke by a low-level moron.

24 points by gjvc 4y ago

tailspin2019 4y ago

This was a bad joke by a single local delivery office manager, not actually an official “Royal Mail” activity.

I have yet to see a good April Fools joke by a company. The whole concept is tricking somebody into feeling foolish. That part is easy. Doing it in a way that doesn’t irritate your customer or employee is hard. Why bother? Just do on April 1 the same job you do on April 2, and leave the pranks to individuals in their personal lives, not companies.

comprev 4y ago
The cycling industry often goes to great lengths for creating April Fools prank products because it's a marketing opportunity if executed well. https://www.pinkbike.com/news/round-up-april-fools-jokes-from-around-the-cycling-industry.html https://www.pinkbike.com/news/round-up-april-fools-jokes-fro...
vector_rotcev 4y ago
Games Workshop did a pretty good one this year - which I enjoyed and think you might enjoy because what's funny is the absurdity of it, not that it makes a fool of anyone: https://youtu.be/uWgKkN4c1QI https://youtu.be/uWgKkN4c1QI
pdpi 4y ago
Many game studios release fake patch notes for April Fools. The IETF has such wonderful proposals as RFC 1149 (IP over avian carriers) and RFC 2324 (Hypertext Coffee Pot Control Protocol). These things are harmless and funny and make the world shine a little brighter.
CM30 4y ago
Sega released a whole visual novel where the player has to solve the mystery of Sonic's apparent murder. That was well received online, and got a ton of high review scores: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Murder_of_Sonic_the_Hedgehog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Murder_of_Sonic_the_Hedgeh... And Minecraft usually releases joke updates on that day, which have been at least somewhat well received: https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Category:April_Fools%27 https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Category:April_Fools%27 Maybe it works better when a company releases a ludicrous product as a joke, and that said product is actually available for the customers to use.

Aeolun 4y ago

But where is the poster?! I'm mildly annoyed that I just have to take their word for what it said. I'm not sure why people would be pissed about it either. It's not like that delivery office manager is high management, it's just one step above the delivery personnel.

Veen 4y ago
The union is using it to embarrass the management and drum up support for the workers. That’s part of their job. It’s in their interest to play up the insensitivity and impact of what was a stupid joke by a low-level moron.