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Were you fooled? The best of the April Fools' Day jokes

The newspapers have outdone themselves with an eclectic collection of April Fools' Day japes, but were you taken in?

Rob Williams
Sunday 01 April 2012 14:57 EDT
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Yes, it’s that time of year again - when you really can’t trust everything you read in the papers.

The British media has once again wholeheartedly embraced April Fools' Day with a selection of bizarre, but just about believable, nonsense stories.

From the broadsheets we’ve had dubious articles featuring Shaun Ryder, a hosepipe amnesty, a Champagne tax, and some truly inside-the-box thinking on the appointment of Steve Hilton’s successor.

Meanwhile the red-tops are helping to promote a new Arsenal fragrance (that smells of the Emirates stadium), pondering who will be on the (surely ill-fated) maiden voyage of 'Titanic Two', and giving us the news that Alesha Dixon has been selected for the British Fencing team at the Olympics (she’s stunned apparently).

Elsewhere, there is horror in Scotland at a proposed Irn-Bru tax and Google are launching a Ninetendo style 8-bit version of Google Maps as well as a ‘Really Advanced Search’.

And other companies have been at it as well. We’ve seen Ikea Australia recall left-handed Allen Keys, the launch of non-slip bananas and the news that British Bulldogs will become ball-dogs for the English cricket team.

So, were you fooled?

Click here to see our gallery – featuring a selection of all the best April Fools' jokes – and let us know in the comments below if you spotted anything we’ve missed.

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